the adventures continue...

Carla's Engagement!

2012-02-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

On February 10, 2012, Delvin Rowlett proposed to Carla on a carriage ride at the Country Club Plaza. Their excitement and joy is obvious to all! We rejoice in their happiness, and had this past weekend to celebrate.

We celebrated over dinner at Chicken Mary's (our second cafe in the fried chicken competition that exists in southeast Kansas.) It was just great - and I wouldn't want to cast a vote as to the best fried chicken.

On Sunday some of Jerry's cousins gathered in Ft. Scott to worship with us...they thought they were going to meet Delvin and decide if they gave their approval, but they were too late for that! They did give him a unanimous "thumbs up" to joining the family...Carolyn Barnett & Betsy Kurtz (Springfield) and Jim & Jane Carney (Kansas City). We are glad he was joyfully embraced by all of them.

I want to share a word about Carla's ring(s) - because they are so very special. Her engagement ring and the wedding bands were created by an artisan jeweler at Joslin's in Kansas City (absolutely the best place EVER) from our mothers' rings. Her engagement ring was originally part of Jerry's mothers' rings while the wedding bands are made from stones in my mother's wedding rings. What a special treasure - and how pleased her Grandmothers would be to be a part of this marriage.
REJOICE! REJOICE! REJOICE!

Fried Chicken Competition

2012-02-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

Southeast Kansas appears to be famous for its fried chicken - and nothing could please Jerry more! It seems that Chicken Annie's started about 75 years ago, followed by Chicken Mary's about 65 years ago...both part of the same family. There are now 3 Annie's restaurants and 1 Mary's, which means we have 4 places to try while we are. Well, somebody has to do it! "Food Wars" featured these two about two years ago - and I am not sure who actually garnered the most votes..there was some dispute over the voting, as I understand.

Our new Ft. Scott friends, Jackie and John, treated us to our first fried chicken dinner at Chicken Annies last week. It was just delicious..its hard to see how any meal could be better, but we shall see. Annie's is also famous for her onion rings, and I must say she has earned her reputation.

So now we have 3 more to try..plus someone in Pittsburgh told us to put Barto's in the competition as well. Anyone want to come and try these all out with us?

This is going to be FUN and FATTENING! But worth it, I am sure...so here we go!

UK Christmas - Scotland Pt II

2012-01-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

Weather in the winter in Scotland can provide many challenges...and we experienced some of those. At least we didn't have the 30' of snow some of them endured for the past two Christmases, and for that we are grateful. However...we have had not only plenty of rain but also an enormous amount of wind. So some of the time has just been better spent sitting in the living room being warmed by the gas fireplace and watching the dustbins blow down the streets! While the wind has been noticable almost every day, on Tuesday it was memorable even to the newscasters. Wind gusts hit 102 mph in Edinburgh and 96 mph in Glasgow---lots of folks without power, trees felled, tall-sided vehicles blown over, bridges closed to all traffic, and trash dumpsters and their contents blown all over everywhere. Its amazing to see one of those large heavy things being blown around down the road like it was a handkerchief! We chose well to stay home on some of those times.

I'm not sure how this happened...but here we are - entering California. There has got to be a story about this town's name, but I don't happen to know it. But it was startling to realize that we were in California for a brief while!

We actually had sunshine yesterday (and again today) and even tho the wind is very cold, just seeing the sunshine gives you a different perspective! We spent time today viewing the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering marvel that moves boats from one canal to another. It wasn't operating on this day, but you can certainly grasp the idea and wonder at the folks that created it. We walked from the lower canal up to the higher canal to get the lay of the land - fascinating.

It has been a marvelous experience to be with Julia, staying in her manse, getting acquainted with not only her pet family but also several members of her parish. God has blessed both the parish and the pastor by bringing them together. We look forward to a return trip to this beautiful country, and the roots of our faith, but next time in the summer. (Its not Texas-hot, but pleasantly warm. One day last summer a friend was dog-sitting for Julia, and when she stopped by to pick them up, her friend told her she had not let the dogs play outside because it was sweltering hot-- 76 degrees. Oh my!

We are celebrating Epiphany by a train ride in lovely weather back to London--oh the countryside is lovely to behold!

UK Christmas - Scotland!

2012-01-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's time to leave London and head north. We were so excited about having the train ride and seeing the countryside and were not one bit disappointed. The train was delightful, the young couple across from us were fun to visit with, and the time fairly flew by! But best of all was to alight at Armadale, and see Julia waving at us from the parking lot! What a great welcome!

Julia is part of our family...she was raised in Crane MO (and we all know that Crane is the Center of the Universe!) Her Dad (Glenn Wiley) and Jerry's Dad were cousins. Suffice it to say, we are all family. Julia is a few years older than our daughters...she attended Presbyterian School of Christian Education ahead of Carla..her brother and Carla were classmates together at Drury. After some years serving as a Christian Educator, Julia went on to Columbia seminary for her M.Div. In July 2009, Julia came to Scotland for a year of familiarization with the Church of Scotland and upon completion, received a Certificate of Eligibility to enable her to serve as a pastor here. She was called to the Armadale Parish Church of Scotland in Armadale, Scotland, halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Carla was the first of our family to come and visit Julia...and last year Jo & Scott came for a visit. Finally we have made it!

Julia lives in a marvelous manse...its a huge home by anyone's standards...it has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, study, dining room, living room, large kitchen, huge entryway, and a laundry room, with a fully fenced back yard to accommodate the animals who reside here: Asher and Anna, long-haired dachshunds, and Timothy, the black cat.

We shared in a truly wonderful worship experience at the Armadale Church. It is obvious that there is a strong bond of love and community between Julia and the church family, and our hearts were warmed by their welcome to us, and their kind and supportive words for their pastor. In the Church of Scotland, Julia is pastor to the congregation at Armadale Church but has oversite and pastoral responsibilities to all who live within the Parrish, which is much larger than the Church family itself. For that reason, Julia has conducted more than 75 funeral services since her arrival a year and a half ago.

Sunday afternoon we took a drive around the area, visiting at the churches that Julia had worked with during her familiarization year - Winchburgh, Kingscavil, and Abercorn (where there have been worshipers for centuries!)

Our New Year's Eve was celebrated with one of Julia's special friends, Muriel, who invited us all over for dinner, including the dogs. She blessed us with a starter of sweet potato soup, followed by a meal of Winter Warmer (beef pie), mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and green beans & carrots - just marvelous. We watched a rerun of this past summer's Military Tattoo - and we think we will celebrate our 50th anniversary by coming to the Tattoo in 2013. What a fine way to bring in the New Year!

UK Christmas - Stirling

2012-01-03T02:55:00.007-07:00

What a grand day with Julia! Since its dark till nearly 9 a.m., the house is very quiet until about then..and Julia and I usually meet in the living room with our morning cuppa about that time, warming ourselves in front of the absolutely lovely gas fireplace. A word about the weather - don't pick January unless you don't have a choice! And if you come for the Christmas holidays, those rarely occur in the summer! The nights are very long and the days are very short, so a lot of sightseeing gets done in the dark. Its also quite cold - while London was much warmer than expected, Scotland is not only cold and damp but the winds have been horrific--102 mph in Edinburgh, 96 mph in Stirling the day AFTER this visit. Needless to say that was a day we stayed inside Julia's lovely manse the entire day! The damage done on the windy day was disastrous--bridges were closed to all traffic (for fear of blowing off!), trees came down, high-sided vehicles blew over on the roadways, chimneys and roof tiles came tumbling down, and trash bins sans trash were blowing everywhere...not a pretty sight.

But now off for Stirling..a lovely drive, bits of sunshine mixed with sprinkling rain, until we got farther north when we started to receive snow warnings on the highway electronic billboards! Yikes!

Stirling Castle experience was just grand. Its bitter cold - and the wind is really blowing. They have tall metal fencing barricades set up along the wall up to the castle to keep we tourists from being blown off!! The scaffolding is all down and the remodeling of the lliving quarters is completed, Julia was happy to see, and it is magnificent. We became part of a tour group with a delightful guide that I did not have trouble understanding...we saw all the places we visited when we were here for the wedding a few years ago, including the Great Hall, which is now complete with a Christmas tree, and massive curtains on all the walls to protect against the cold, and 3 huge fireplaces going (for looks only--electric). It was fun to show Julia where we were six years ago (is that when it was?)

The private living quarters are amazing. Two of the rooms had folks in them in period costumes to visit with you. All the colors in the wall paintings and the ceilings were so bright and colorful now that they are restored..saw the outer & inner courts of both the King and the Queen, as well as their private bedrooms (which were only for looks, and they really each slept in another little tiny room off the bedroom - go figure!)

We had lattes in the Castle Cafe which was really a blessing by then, and helped us warm up, and now the rain is coming down harder and we decided the best thing to do is head for home ASAP...again, the snow warnings were going, and Julia says we passed several trucks bringing stuff to put on the roads..so they are expecting the snow but only up north.

It was such a treat to be back in Stirling Castle and see all the improvements that have been made in their restoration project.

UK Christmas -The first four days of Christmas

2011-12-29T03:15:00.031-07:00

As you know, today is Boxing Day -historically that meant that during the Christmas season, a box was available in the churches to collect money for the poor. The last day to contribute was on Christmas Day, and the following day the boxes were opened and distributed to the poor--hence, Boxing Day. In London, this is a national holiday, but the Sunday transportation schedule is supposed to exist. However, add to that the fact that the union of tube drivers called for a strike on that day - and the end result is absolute chaos! Fortunately, we did not know that before we took off--we knew the strike but didn't fully comprehend the chaos!

So off we wandered to our tube station, to find it closed, and nice attendant directed us to the bus to take to Leytonstone, where we would be able to catch the tube. We wanted to go to Leytonstone Station anyway--this is the birthplace of Alfred Hitchcock and we had been told about the terrific mosaics on the walls of the station. Sure enough - a mosaic depicting many different movies from the great master, and it was a great way to start the day. Now we are back on the tube and headed for Chancery Lane. This was our tube stop five years ago when we rented the flat..so we were in familiar territory walking to the Dickens Museum. This was wonderful..many restorations done on this brownstone - and we loved wandering through the rooms again, seeing all the Christmas decorations in the Victorian style. In one room in the basement, the original production of "A Christmas Carol" with Alastair Sims was showing on a video. In the Drawing Room, a biographer of Dickens did a reading every hour - and we listened to him read the opening scene of "A Christmas Carol". In the little cafe in the back, we were treated to hot mulled wine (not very good, IMHO-prefer Whittards, Carla!), little teas and breads. We walked back to Chancery Lane and decided to head for 221A Baker Street-Sherlock Holmes, of course. Five years ago, we picked the right time to do this and were about the only people inside when we arrived..not so this year - we joined the que to get in, took pics with the bobby guarding the door, and wandered in. Not much had changed in the last five years - it is so tiny - very narrow stairways going up four flights, only one-way traffic on them. Unfortunately "Dr. Watson" was not there this time..he was the highlight of our last visit and I am sorry for all those tourists that they didn't get that experience!

Now we are off to Starbucks for a delicious cuppa and sitting on the streetside tables watching the people go by--little dreaming what was ahead for us! After leisurely drinking our coffee, we headed back to the Baker Street underground, rode it for 2 stops to Oxford Circus, where we were to change for the Central Line. There were thousands upon thousands of folks waiting for tubes. I felt so sorry for the little ones who must have felt they were being suffocated down there around everyone elses knees! We were so crowded, we could not get in through the doorway to stand along the train tracks! We finally got that far...and one or two trains came by, already full, and a few people managed to crowd their way onto the train...and we decided we couldn't take this anymore..and somehow managed to worm our way OUT of the tube stop. Someone pointed us in the direction of a bus stop (the #25 is what we wanted) and we joined hundreds of folks waiting. In the next two hours, I would say that about 8 buses with #73 on them came by and stopped, and none of the other 6 buses that were to stop there ever showed up! Someone who looked official stopped and told us to go somewhere else if we could because there was a "detour" up the way that was holding up the buses. By now we are visiting with two young people from Lithuania who have just arrived at Gatwick and got this far with their roll-away luggage, and were heading for Stratford, also our destination. After two hours, Jerry had had it - so we set off for another bus stop, hoping that would work better. Jerry was ready to get on any bus that came by and get out of Oxford Circus to ANYWHERE, and I was about to agree with him. The cute young gal said to her male traveling companion (referring to us) "they are our only hope"--so off the four of us went. Again we tried the tube. The kids got in line to purchase their tickets, the board said a train would be by in 19 minutes, and we headed down the escalator--to find our Central Line gate shut and locked and a crude sign saying "closed." We boogied back up the stairs, caught the kids just as they were the next in line to purchase, and told them not to do it. Back to the street. Back to a different bus stop. Another wait with no buses showing up...and now we have had it. Its TAXI time. We walked to a busier street where we had seen taxis driving by. Jerry found a driver who had stopped to let folks out, and he told Jerry we needed to walk to the TAXI sign and que there, which we did. Oh dear...well, the young man with us managed to flag down a taxi, who said he would take us, gave us the approximate charge (gulp!) and we four loaded up! These kids were so cute - we told them how old we were..and they asked how old our kids were - and they said that was their parents' age..so they could be our grandchildren! Our drive took us by Kings Cross and St. Pancreas stations, and we told them that Platform 9 3/4 was in there - she looked puzzled, so I asked her if she knew Harry Potter. Her reply "well, of course"..but she seemed amazed that WE did! We suggested they go to that tube station during their stay and take their picture with the shopping cart. She said "You are very modern grandparents". Oh my..... FINALLY, we arrived at Stratford, bid goodby to our new kids, giving them a card telling them to come see us in Texas. She is 16 and in school, he is 20 and studying Economics at the University of Lithuania. They were going to visit an uncle, who lived in Stratford and she had never met..and then go to Paris for New Years Eve weekend. Bless them on their journey! Tomorrow will be a Banking Holiday, and we don't know what happened to the strike yet...so who knows what the day will bring? We are definitely in a wind-down mode! The pace of yesterday, the throngs of people on the streets, the crush of humanity in the tube stations on two different occasions, just really sapped our energy. It was off-set only by the chance meeting of the two young people from Lithuania, who made the time seem to pass faster! But we were not moving very fast at all on the second day of Christmas. So we are off to Wanstead, to our local Starbucks, for some breakfast coffee and a nice visit with 3 generations of a family at the table next to ours...awaiting the birth of a new baby boy. Delightful! Our conversations with folks like this have really been a highlight of our whole trip--because we have had time to sit, relax, strike up conversations, and become engaged with folks along the way. Now we are headed on the tube (which is running fine, by the way!) to Leicester Square and the discount ticket booth to see what might be in store for us today - and it is BILLY ELLIOTT! Oh joy! So hope another tube to Victoria Train Station (this was our first visit this trip to that magnificent enormous station - so much going on all around and an entire shopping center within the train station itself!) Our only disappointment is that the outside is under total remodeling, so everything is scaffolded..it will be very nice on another trip, I would imagine. Our seats for BE could not have been better...lowest row of the balcony, no one in front of us, you could lean in to the railing and be most comfortable and have a great view. What a thrilling play! The music is phenomenal, the story heart-wrenching, and the dancing was magnificent. There are 4 young men who play Billy - and he really carries the bulk of the show. The actors are all about 13 years of age, so we knew there had to be more than one in that part. I don't know which one we saw - but he was incredible. His energy and enthusiasm were boundless. We left the theatre energized ourselves, found a tube route home that was never full of people, (of course, it was still a Banking Holiday), returned home to make ourselves a grand dinner - and were entertained with BBCs first installment of a new presentation of Dickens' "Great Expectations" - and since we are really in a Dickens mode this trip, that was perfect! Wednesday dawns cooler and much windier, but we are off to Central London to see what play we can find for this afternoon. This time we tubed to Piccadilly Circus..how exciting! Thronging with people! Piccadilly, Oxford Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square just all run together -- and Tottenham Court as well, as we found out later. We chose to see "Jersey Boys" in the afternoon, and took off walking towards Trafalgar Square. We were right at noon - poor timing, as all the coffee shops were packed, but we eventually decided to go back to St. Martins-in-the-Fields, and had soup down in the Crypt Cafe..a delightful place to eat and people watch, plus the opportunity to browse through the church again. The play was such fun - music that was all so familiar for us, all around those times in our early married life..and we delighted in it. We walked from the theatre to Tottenham Court underground, which is in our Central Line, and headed for home,
As you can see - we are definitely winding down..our energy level is lower...and we are not filling our days so full. But we have done what we wanted to do, saw plays, museums, stores, and are quite ready to end our time in London!

UK Christmas Weekend, 2011

2011-12-26T03:14:00.035-07:00

On this Saturday morning, our first objective is to walk to town and pick up our Christmas dinner, which is being prepared by the cook at the Olive Branch, where we have spent some enjoyable times. We had originally ordered lamb chops, but the cook motioned us to the back and told us he really didn't think the lamb was very good this day and recommended the ribs and/or chicken - so we took both. We drank coffee, visited with the owner, and hung out while Chef grilled the ribs etc. After he had us packed up, the owner came over and gave us a bottle of merlot wine to enjoy with our dinner, with his complements. As we left, the cook told us he had just made a fresh batch of meatballs, so had included a package of them in our dinner as well!! Wow! Such great treatment....so home we hiked, put the groceries away, and headed out for St. Paul's. The line, at 2:15 p.m. was already very long...so we quickly joined the que and struck up conversations with the folks next to us - a young couple from South Africa and a young man from Bolivia. 3 motorcycles drove by, waving at us, with the drivers all dressed as Santa Claus..wish I could have gotten a picture, but I couldn't move that fast and wasn't prepared!

The worship service was beautiful. Music in all those cathedrals is just exceptional because of the acoustics. It was a service of readings, scripture, carols and anthems - and it was a perfect way to usher in Christmas night. As we exited following the service, we ran in to our young friends from South Africa, and he kindly took the superb photo I am attaching for you. We returned to our Wanstead station, and our walk home took us by The Nightingale pub, where we planned to stop because they were advertising "live Irish music" for tonight. If it was there, we don't know where it was! We walked in the side door and were overwhelmed with greetings from all the gentlemen standing there, who kept encouraging us to "come on in farther". Jerry's new best friend, Dave, insisted on buying us a round - and we found two chairs with a table in the little room with a fireplace, so sat down, and Dave showed up with our drinks. What a fine new friend! Jerry tried to buy him a drink before we left, but he wouldn't hear of it--said we could buy him one when he came to Texas! You are on, Dave! We were home and snuggled in before 8 p.m., which was grand. Our evening treat on the telly was a Poirot followed by a Miss Marple--but I must confess we slept through the end of Miss Marple and don't know for sure who-dunnit! Christmas was memorable - the last time Jerry and I spent a Christmas by ourselves was 1963 in Chicago IL, the first year we were married. So here we are 48 years later by ourselves in the Irwin's home in Wanstead, England. We reflected back on that first Christmas together a lot! In 1963 we had a cardboard fireplace on the wall of our tiny apartment which put out just about as much heat as the gas fireplace in the living room in Wanstead, which is not operable. We enjoyed a sweet from one of the local bakeries--not the usual "Mom's cinnamon rolls" or the new sticky buns of recent years--but a bakery sweet with our coffee/tea..and then planned to walk to a local church. We found one on the Google map and took off...it was a great walk, and a long way - and it became apparent we weren't going to make it for any 11 o'clock service, so we turned around and moseyed back home, singing "Joy to the World" with each other--a carol we have really missed hearing during this time in London. Brits are BIG on my favorite Christmas carol, "Once in Royal David's City"...a song that every year (while we were in ministry) I would request that we sing to the music minister--sometimes it happened and sometimes it didn't. Its a GREAT carol..I don't understand why we don't sing it more. And in the same vein, why don't Brits sing "Joy to the World"..not once..and not ever printed in any of the Christmas songsheets we received at various programs. Just a thought. The rest of our day was well deserved resting...catching up on some laundry (which takes FOREVER to do over here..machines are very slow..our dryer is in the garage, and requires a water container to be emptied every load or two, and drying goes on and on and on and on. I gave up on the towels, and brought them in and hung them on a rack...they were dry in the morning! We watched TV as well. Our intention had been to see "The King's Speech" last night, but it turned out to be on a channel that we don't receive, so that was a disappointment! TV is very different over here--I will not complain about our TV in the USA ever again! The news is dreadful...very little world news..lots of sports and entertainment news (thats not so different), and I really really miss CNN! (Oh, they have a channel thats called that- but its definitely not the same). And programming - we are used to watching many Xmas shows around the holiday, but not so here. Our dinner was magnificent--prepared by the chef at the Olive Branch..and we feasted on his ribs, which were yummy...along with purple baked potatoes, and lots of brussel sprouts, topped off by dessert--and accompanied by wine, a gift from the owner of the Olive Branch.

What a memorable Christmas! While we have missed sharing the holiday with our immediate family, we have thoroughly enjoyed being in the London area, being a part of a neighborhood, meeting lots of new folks, engaging in many delightful conversations, and worshiping in these magnificent cathedrals. Merry Christmas!

UK Christmas - Dec. 21-22-23, 2011

2011-12-23T04:22:00.001-07:00

The weather is so balmy--its unbelievable - and most of our clothes sit in the suitcase...no need for long underwear since our first day here..and, in fact, no use for our knit scarves--we found out yesterday that we were much more comfortable without them, and most of the day I carried my coat over my arms! Who would have thought?

Living in a real home in a neighborhood area brings a whole new set of situations to one's life--its so terribly damp all the time that fighting mold is a constant battle. It wants to grow everywhere, and one is constantly wiping up moisture from window sills, counters, etc.l Items in the kitchen look the same but have very different names on the packages, just enough to cause you to wonder if in fact it is what you think it is! It would take some getting used to, I must say.

We are such pros on the tube now - what a marvelous way to travel around a big city like this! Our brisk morning walk seems to get longer every day--and its all slightly uphill first thing in the morning. Thats probably good because if it were reversed we might never get home at night! We hopped our Central line and headed for St. Paul's stop to walk to the Museum of London.

This is one incredible place!!! I wonder why we never did it on one of our previous trips? We decided it was because we were saving it for this trip. Its a magnificent structure just a few blocks from St Pauls, and actually has a spectacular view of the dome of St. Paul's as you walk away from it back towards the tube.

The first thing we wanted to do was see the Dickens Exhibition. We knew there was lots to see here, but Dickens was first and then - if we had time - we could do other galleries within the Museum. We were not one bit disappointed! They have done a spectacular job in the way they presented their Dickens material, appealing to all the senses. Charles Dickens is a most interesting person--its because of his writings that so much of our Christmas celebrations come about, and his strong family focus, like the Cratchitts, or Oliver and his uncle..and yet, he had a very dysfunctional life, very little family life of his own. He and his wife had ten children...and he liked the children when they were little, but once they began to grow up, he was very distant from them and unable to show any affection. Then enter the mistress into his life, and the divorce from his wife, and a life that followed surrounded by his friends on occasions but not his family. In his latter years he never spent Christmas with any of his family - and this from the author of "A Christmas Carol."! The Museum has many precious possessions--his writing desk, a writing chair, original galley proofs with his corrections, multitutudes of correspondence, and many photos and sketches from his books. We had a fascinating time.

Following lunch in the Museum Cafe, we then had time to wander through other galleries -- everything you ever wanted to know about London from hundreds of thousands of years ago to today. There is a time line you can follow along the wall, giving the highlights of each of the years--fascinating!

As we left the Museum, Jerry realized that we were on Aldersgate street, which is where both of the Wesley brothers were converted--and there it was. Interesting enough, it is a Presbyterian Church now, shared with a Japanese Christian church, and--unfortunately--is only open on Sundays for worship. But we stood on the spot and Jerry got his picture taken right there!

And now we are off to Wimbledon! Five years ago Carla, Jerry and I went to our first Christmas Panto starring Henry Winkler "The Fonz" and we had a blast...on the spur of the moment, we decided to return, this time to see Dame Edna in "Dick Whittington", one of England's favorite children's story. There are no words to describe a panto--sort of similar to our meller-drammers, with lots of booing and hissing and cheering. Its full of ad-libs and off-the-cuff remarks--not at all like any play we would see in the USA. And Dame Edna did not disappoint--she/he was hilarious and just like you see on TV! The audience was in stitches, and we missed many lines, some due to inability to understand their English, and some due to the subject matter which was local politics! Needless to say, it was a great way to close out our day, and we are so glad we went!

Now it is Thursday before Christmas..the sun is shining...it is quite warm...very like a spring day. We walked to town after we finally got mobile (which took a while, let me tell you!) and did the mile walk to the heart of our town where we enjoyed an English breakfast at Ceasar's Palace (NOT to be confused with the one in the USA, let me tell you!) There was an outdoor market set up along the sidewalk with beautiful fruits and vegetables and a multitude of olives--it was pretty as a picture!

Our matinee was Simon Cowell with his one-man show of Dickens' Christmas Carol--absolutely stunning. He was onstage for an hour and a half with some chairs being his only prop...he did many different characters, and his interpretation of Fezziwig was just a delight. It was a fabulous performance, and we are so glad we were there and made it part of our Christmas. The folks next to us had heard him do a 2-hour performance of readings from Dickens a year ago, and told us we were in for a treat...and they were right. Another delightful experience leading us to Christmas!

Friday had so much walking in it, I don't think I even want to think about it - I will be tired again! The morning was much cooler and very misty/drizzly..but we walked to town to take care of a few things--like ordering the food we wanted for Xmas day from a local restaurant, The Olive Branch. It was a good walk, and we made our order - and stood amazed at all the people in the "que" outside the local butcher shop, complete the whole turkeys hanging in the window--a site I haven't seen in a long time!

This time we headed for Knightsbridge, with the idea of seeing more of the shopping hustle and bustle, and enjoy the walk to the area of Royal Albert Hall. Looking in the stores was fascinating--wandered in a few--this is high-end shopping and many many folks were out doing their shopping. Now the drizzle is coming down harder, and we decided to find a cafe with outside covered seating and people watch. We found one that suited us, and spied a table just as another gentleman did as well, so Jerry invited him to join us. We sat over some lunch/coffee and visited for quite some time--he was just a fascinating conversationalist, and over an hour quickly flew by. Now it is no longer drizzling, but raining! And we headed off in the direction of RAH and the museums.

At last - just as I was beginning to feel wet, we came upon Victoria & Albert Museum and entered--to find it was Friday night which was a late night opening for them, so they would not be running us out shortly. We browsed the shop, and then chanced to ask a gift-wrapper for a pub nearby--her directions were marvelous and we were able to go by underground tunnel out of the V&A, past the underground entrance to the National History Museum, and on to the South Kensington tube station, where we found the Hoop & Toy pub just across the street--not even getting ourselves wet.

Fortified by pub juice and enjoying the antics of all the young adults gathered at the bar, it was soon time to retrace our steps under-ground and proceed to the Royal Albert Hall.

The concert did not disappoint us! This is the same concert we attended five years ago "Carols at Christmas" with the orchestra in period costumes including wigs. The music was spectacular..and the audience participated in singing many carols. The audience was most responsive and enthusiastic, and we truly ushered in the Christmas season in a proper manner!

UK Christmas-Day 5 & 6-week before Xmas

2011-12-20T03:51:00.002-07:00

It is RAINING...a constant drizzle..and off to the Apple Market at Covent Garden. Its mostly under cover, and one gigantic flea market. In one spot, a woman with a lovely soprano voice was singing her operatic arias and trying to sell her CDs. We listened to her for a while..and searched for a cup of coffee with a place to sit down, but to no avail...and by that time, I was getting discouraged about Covent Garden...and THERE THEY WERE! Two mimes. And they were just as good as five years ago..we loved watching them with innocent passers-by, who didn't realize they were not statues..especially a group of teenage girls! So the visit was a total success after that.

Back on the underground and off to Knightsbridge to tour Harrods...I think I liked the Alice in Wonderland windows from five years ago better, but these were elegant...all based on Svaworski jewels/crystals..and very elegant--sort of like the wicked Queen in the Narnia series.

There were thousands and thousands of shoppers/visitors everywhere - lines and lines waiting to be served in every cafe or tea room at Harrods...so we ventured across the street to Cafe Rouge. As we ate, we were joined at the next table by 3 young men from Iran, and had a delightful conversation with them.

After Harrods, we headed home, alighting from our underground at Stratford. This is going to be the site of the Summer Olympics next summer. The mall there is unbelievable - biggest thing I ever saw...largest mall in Europe...most people I ever saw...brightest lights I ever saw...we were amazed. We stopped at a grocery store in the mall (similar to a Central Market in their choices) and picked up a few things...then I had to get out of there--I was getting claustrophobic with all the people around!

Its only 3 stops away from our stop at Wanstead, so we headed back, and stopped off at The George for a pint - a delightful way to end our day.

Tuesday morning and its drizzling! No wonder what grass and bushes there are in our neighborhood are so green! Its not like Wimberley, thats for sure! But, in actuality, we have had more sunshine this trip already than five years ago, so we are grateful.

We are heading for the Kensington area...the area of museums, Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, and Bertie's monument--what a sight! But our first stop is at the Museum of Natural History...five years ago there was a Christmas market going on around the museum, but now it is an ice rink, and full of happy people either skating or trying to skate. Best of all are the little penguin "helpers" to give more stability to the skaters--now even I could get out and skate with one of those, but I fear it is much too short for me! We drank coffee outside above the rink and enjoyed watching everyone.

The museums in London are such a blessing - most of them are free, supported by donations, so available to everyone. We wandered through many exhibits--looking at skeletons,-- one animal in particular that was uncovered by a 13 year old girl another century ago--her older brother found the skull and she unearthed the backbone...she must have been amazed! We thought of our grandson, Garrett Worley and his interest in marine biology and wished he were here with us to see this!

Wandering through museums is exhausting--its hard standing all that time, and you long for a bench - and there are some around - so you can rest a bit. Now its off to Victoria & Albert Museum - amazing, enormous...room after room of furniture/ pictures, tables, etc, all beautifully displayed..you just wander and wander. But joy of joys--in our wanderings, we heard beautiful Xmas carols being sung--is it recorded or human? Keep moving towards the sound...and there they are - six beautiful young adults standing in the rotunda of the entrance entertaining us with fabulous voices. We just leaned on the railing and soaked it all in. Eventually we went downstairs to the lobby to join them in some sing-along music. They were singing for a most appreciative crowd (of course, they have their buckets there for contributions--I hope they got lots!) Their music was such a gift for us.

Now its off to Royal Albert Hall. We are attending a concert by King's College this evening. We have more than one old CDs of Xmas music by this choir....so I really wanted to hear them. It was not what I expected at all (music-wise) because only a small part was seasonal. It was the King's College choir, plus they must have a prep school for we had a small group of young boys...and a full orchestra..plus about 100 singers that were definitely NOT in college! (Our clue was the number of white-heads.) Needless to say the music was heavenly, and we were delighted to be there. We sat in the exact same seats we had booked five years ago when we attended a Christmas concert at RAH with the family. (We are going back to RAH on Friday for the same concert as five years ago!)

These have been grand days - and we are overjoyed to be here at this tie and this place!

UK Christmas-Day 3&4

2011-12-18T01:48:00.001-07:00

Its the weekend in London - one week before Christmas - unbelievable amount of people out on the streets, in the buses and tubes, filling all the stores, and the coffee houses! I do believe all the press about this Saturday being the busiest shopping day of the year!

Our play today is James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave in "Driving Miss Daisy". It was magnificent...such a beautiful emotional story, and our actors were superb. We had good seats--front row of the balcony (very small seats and small aisles, too, I might add). There was no intermission - just the story in its entirety, which was great. It was a great experience for us.

After the play, we went next door to the tube stop and headed back to Wanstead...we planned to walk up to The Cuckfield pub, which was a pretty good hike..and it was not disappointing at all--except that the first 3 things we ordered for dinner, they were already out of! We finally picked something that was available..and consumed a pint of cider and enjoyed the people-watching. We do wish pubs like this would catch on in the US, but they don't seem to--such a shame.

We were walking on Sunday morning when all the shops are closed, to Starbucks for our morning coffee, and as we crossed the street, I commented to Jerry that the delivery man had delivered a large box and just left it in the doorway of a children's shop a couple of doors down from Starbucks. I mentioned the news story I had read about how many packages like that are being stolen and showed the ways it was happening. When we came out of Starbucks and walked back down the street, we noticed a lady standing in the doorway of that store. The box was open, and she had a small suitcase on wheels that was lying open and she was going through the contents of the box one item at a time, and stuffing what she wanted in to her suitcase. As we crossed the street, we saw her close up the box and lay it back up against the door of the store and leave, pulling her suitcase behind her. How sad!

The Lord's Day - sun shining brightly in the windows! What a joy! We have seen lots more sunshine than five years ago! We worshiped this morning at Westminster Abbey - lovely service, communion--very special. There is NO heat inside the building so one never takes off ones coat. Well, that was tolerable this morning but it surely was NOT this evening. We went back for a service of organ music and readings--and we were not pleased with the organ music. But its a magnificent instrument and the acoustics are incredible.

When we left worship this morning, we stopped for coffee at Starbucks, shared a sandwich..and walked - but didn't know where we were going, and obviously didn't go the right way, and walked miles (so it seemed). We decided to walk across the Thames at the Vauxhall Bridge, which we did...then asked the bus driver how to get to the London Eye and he took us all the way nearly to the door! Folks really do want to be helpful.

The Eye was quite an experience - we had gorgeous weather...sunshine, lots of clouds, just starting to turn dusk. Such a treat!

From there, we walked along the Thames again, back to Westminster Bridge and walked across the river, back to the Westminster area, straight to the Albert Pub where we shared a British Pub platter and a pint! And then back to church for the organ/readings concert. Truly a glorious Lord's Day..and what a joy to be here in this location on earth

UK Christmas-Day 2 (Dec. 16, 2011)

2011-12-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Morning arrived after a glorious night of sleep for our weary bodies! We chose to walk to our neighborhood shopping area in Wanstead. It is about a mile from the house, and you have two choices for walking. The most direct to the Tube Station is to take a footpath just a few doors from our home, then through a bit of neighborhood, and finally walk along the motorway (on a sidewalk) to the Tube station. The other way is to head into our neighborhood from the house, and the entire walk is through residential areas, taking us past a beautiful old church (which is not in operation now - how sad), and past The Nightingale, a fine pub. We always enjoy the architecture--houses are primarily "semi detached" which in our language is a duplex. There are a few detached homes but certainly not many. There are some with Christmas trees or some Christmas decorations but certainly not a lot of decorations, but we enjoyed all the ones we have seen.

We went to The Olive Branch Deli...unbelievable full English breakfast that lasted Jerry the entire day and evening. (see photo)..while I had a modest scrambled eggs/toast with tea (of course). We had such a nice visit with the owner-he's from India, wife from Italy...we are planning to stop by on Saturday and select our dinner for Xmas and take it home for warm-up on Sunday.
We waddled to the tube station and headed out...Wanstead on the Circle line to Holbern, change to the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square. Upon arising to the street level, we found our theatre for our Saturday play right there - so getting there will not be a problem!

And we wandered....toured through St. Martins in the Fields--tried to buy tickets to a carol sing last night but either very expensive or no view, you only paid to listen..so we passed on that...found our Waterstones Book store (I don't believe myself, but I really did buy two books--its an addiction!). We just walked..found ourselves at the Texas Embassy so went inside to visit with them--their coffee machine was broken, but they encouraged us to return for a meal some time during our stay. We inquired about our friend's son (who is an owner) and of course, he was not there--he rarely is. But they directed us to Nero's for coffee--a place we had been last trip. After getting refreshed with our coffee and tea, we spent the next few hours in the National Gallery--amazing place..just wandered and sat..wandering and looking at paintings gets very tiring! Benches were a welcome relief!

We enjoyed down time at Waterstones, reading through their books and mags and just hanging out...then over to Trafalgar Square to listen to a delightful choir standing below the Christmas tree singing..their director was very animated and a joy to watch..and lots of singing along--more memories of 5 years ago.

And then - the highlight of the day - "Blood Brothers" at the Phoenix Theatre. Amazing production. Carla, you are absolutely correct--it is a must-see. It wasn't what I expected, tho, so I was pleasantly surprised with where it went--just a powerful moral story about class and class differences. The actors were great--Mama was so strong and really pulled all that hard stuff off. We were behind a couple of rows of school kids..maybe junior high...and they laughed their heads off at the adult actors playing 7 year old boys, then 14 year old boys...and they were as much fun to watch (or at least listen to). So do put "BB" on everyone's list of plays to see!

When you go to an evening production, it makes it very late when you get home - nearly midnight by the time you ride the Central Line to Wanstead and then walk a mile! Matinees are more to my liking!

UK Christmas, Day 1 (Dec. 15, 2011)

2011-12-15T22:00:00.016-07:00

Fabulous Day 1! Now for the details: First - our choice of transportation. We decided we would go to Trafalgar Square, walk all around, see what was happening at St. Martin's In The Fields, etc....and we would go by bus so we could be above ground and see all the sites between here and there. First thing, I put us at the wrong bustop, but didn't realize it UNTIL we waited and waited and finally, about 30 minutes later, a bus came...and it took us around the corner to the next block (which I now know is where we should have been in the first place!) and said "End of Line - everyone off". OOPS. So we got off, crossed the street, and here comes our bus--same bus, same bus driver, and so we board again. And we successfully complete that bit. Now we are really on our way...but NO - police lights, traffic stopped etc...she stops our bus, turns it off and goes to investigate. She returns to report a wreck and we wait some more. Finally we get to go - and from what we could see, it appears a vehicle ran full speed into a bus stop waiting station--the metal frame is smashed all to pieces, and glass from the sides of the bus stop are all over the street! And one very smashed up car. Not sure how that could have happened but it did. But NO - she pulls in to a bus stop along the route, steps out and announces that "This is the end of the line for this bus. You must get off and catch the next one." No explanation, no nothing..so lots of us exited the bus and waited for another one to come, and off we go again. Now we are a bus heading for Oxford Circus, but we plan to get off at Tottenham before that. The bus driver announces that the destination has been changed, and we are now on a bus for someplace else--can't recall the name right now. Well, that seems to be OK because its making all the right stops. We keep seeing signs for "St. Paul's ahead"...and Jerry says "want to get off at St. Paul's and look around?" SURE...so bye-bye to the bus! That may conclude our bus adventures for this trip!!! NOW St. Paul's...we are in a very upscale part of the city, the banking district, and very high-end stores. We wandered through a mall - all glass, several stories...very posh. It was about noon and every single business person (dressed in black clothes, suits and ties) was standing in a line at every one of the many restaurants/cafes/whatnot. After finding their very exquisite bathroom facilities, we left, and stopped at a little coffee shop--where Jerry had a mammoth-sized coffee cup and I had hot cocoa. Oh, I failed to mention the sun was shining this morning! Glory! We loved every minute of it and it lasted all day -well, till it turned dark in mid-afternoon! We checked St. Paul's calendar on the fence and found there was a Xmas concert at 6:30 so decided we would just hang around and attend. Inside we found that it costs LOTS to wander - like nearly 15 pounds per person..but no charge if you want to worship...so we walked over to a very nice employee, and asked if we could go in to worship. He asked if we wanted to light a candle in one of the chapels...Jerry said that would be fine, but we'd really just like to go in and sit quietly, and mentioned he was clergy. Oh, the person says, clergy are always welcome and get complementary passes...so he got us two..and we set off. We hiked the 257 steps up to the Whispering Gallery - an amazing place that encircles St. Paul's below the dome (Whispering because you can whisper on one side of the gallery and be heard on the other side.) But best of all - the orchestra and choir were rehearsing for tonight..so we just sat and listened and soaked it all in. Absolutely heavenly! Our same friendly employee also told us that he was in charge of the que for the concert, and he went on duty at 3:15 - for a 6:30 concert. We sure did want to get a good seat, so we told him we would be out there with him very early! We went down to the Crypt to see the gift shop and ate at the cafe - scone, tea, clotted cream & jam - wonderful! By 3:45, we were out in the que - we were numbers 31 & 32 in line...and by 5, it was huge. Our new friends job is to count the people in the que..and when it reaches about 400, he tells them that they may not be able to get in, but they are welcome to wait if they choose. He also told us where to head for choice seats, which we did. Doors opened at 5:30, and we were in chairs near the front that were under the dome area, which is the best acoustics. It had to have been a little bit of heaven....carols, readings, Scripture..and the opening solo of my favorite Christmas hymn "Once in Royal David's City" was sung by a precious little blonde boy in the boys' choir, who was standing on a pedestal right at the end of our row. The readers were all actors/actresses in the British industry...only one of whom was real familiar to us...but they were great! And of course we did quite a bit of congregational singing as well. So the day was an enormous success. Its exciting to be in the London area for the next two weeks...and we are grateful to be staying at the Irwin's home in Wanstead. This will be our first experience at living in a suburb of London and seeing what a neighborhood of families is like. Irwin's, friends of Carla's for years (in fact, as Drury classmates, Carla and Shaunda Irwin studied here in London together), are in Kansas City for the holidays.

Market Days Crash!

2011-07-02T12:45:00.001-06:00

While Wimberly Market Days are a sight and experience to behold... it can also wipe one out! So, that is where we find ourselves on this Saturday afternoon... home with iced tea, air conditioning, and a nap or two!

Mama's brag time on Carla

2011-07-01T09:24:00.000-06:00

A really nice thing happened to Carla this past week, and (being one proud Mom), I want to share it with our friends. Carla was nominated by her manager of the Starbucks Store as "Partner of the Month" for their store. She not only received that distinction, but was also selected as "Partner of the Month" for the District. This is part of what her manager had to say about her: Over the last few months, my team has under gone a tremendous transition in our staff. We lost 7 partners within 2 weeks, some of which were unexpected. As a team, we quickly had to rebound so we wouldn't lose a step in providing great customer service. This type of challenge could have really taken us down and we could have lost our way through stress and uncertainty. In the midst of it all, we prevailed as a team. Each person on my team stepped up and did what they needed to do to keep us going. While I am so impressed with my entire team, there is one inidividual that stands out...Carla Hilton. Carla comes to work every day with a positive attitude towards our customers and to our partners. She picked up extra shifts (while still maintaining her second job) every week to help keep the store staffed. She also helped out at another store, too! Carla also gook charge in getting my shifts covered (without being asked) when she found out my aunt had passed away. Carla works so hard with a smile on her face and a cheer in her voice no matter how many hours she has worked or the number of days straight she worked. She never complains or provides less to our customers or to the team....I know that Carla's positive attitude helped to keep the moral up in the store which in turn helped us to continue to achieve results. I couldn't have gotten through the last few months without Carla's help. Carla is a role model for us all." Congratulations, Carla - we are SO proud of you. Carla is so enthusiastic about the Starbucks organization, she will convince you that YOU TOO, should be a barista! And now, to her credit, she will also be working as an Innkeeper at Southmoreland, a B&B on the Plaza in Kansas City, after mid-July.

It doesn't get any better than this!

2011-06-25T19:55:00.000-06:00

What an evening! The four of us went to Boudros for dinner - thats on the Riverwalk - absolutely fabulous! The meal was outstanding - you see Scott and Jerry solving the world's problems, but more importantly, the chef behind them preparing our guacamole right at our table. It was the best ever - next to Carla's! AND THEN - the Majestic Theatre for a concert by the Oak Ridge Boys. They are absolutely amazing, talented, energetic as well as old. And have you ever seen a more gorgeous theatre than the Majestic? Its breath-taking. The crowd reacted like The Boys were singing the National Anthem - everyone on their feet when they closed with "Elvira." Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow, Heigh-ho Silver, away.

Bless this House, O Lord, we pray....

2011-06-19T16:43:00.048-06:00

What a joy to have our new home blessed with the participation of these friends who gathered last Sunday afternoon...everyone had an opportunity to share, as we moved from room to room, blessing every nook and corner! Our thanks to our friends from San Antonio, Tom Cox & Michael Moon, and our "surrogate" granddaughter, Cassie Ramirez; our Wimberley friend, Nita Bagby; and our kids, Jo & Scott. After blessing our abode, we broke bread together and enjoyed some special times. The Irish house blessing says: "God bless the corners of this house and be the lintel blessed; and bless the hearth and bless the board and bless each place of rest; bless each door that opens wide to strangers and to kin; and bless each crystal windowpane that lets the sunshine in. And bless the rooftree overhead and every sturdy wall. The peace of man, the peace of God, the peace of love to all." Thanks to each and every one of you for being a part of this.

Seeing dear friends along the way....

2011-05-16T16:47:00.088-06:00

One of the biggest blessings of our life has been friends - some who go back to high school days, through college, seminary, five pastorates, and four interims. From the days when we could only keep in touch via snail-mail and usually just at Christmas, to this day and age when we are facebook friends with many and frequently in contact - its joyous! And we have delighted in crossing paths with many during our travels, and especially since retirement. This trip was no exception. We'd never been to Indiana...but thought we should check with a couple of friends who might be in the area - one in Holland MI (only a two hour drive from Elkhart), one in Goshen IN (less than a fifteen minute drive from our RV plant.) Wow - God is good!

The Nelsons were seminary classmates of ours. Mary Gray and I were best friends during our years as students at McCormick, while Tom and Jerry were close friends as well. It was Jerry's delight to officiate at their wedding some years later....and the years simply melted away when we reunited at their home in Holland. Best of all, it was during the Tulip Festival, so the flowers were spectacular.
Unfortunately, we did not take one single picture of our overnight visit with Mark and Deb Lindemood, who have been friends since our days in Marshall MO...we just have our memories, which we treasure. I think we were so busy talking we forgot all about shooting pics!

The trip home included a weekend stop in St. Louis to spend time with our surrogate grand-kids, Garrett and Shannon Worley, who are growing up into such lovely youngsters. Garrett did his best to teach his Grumps some skill with "Angry Birds," or baseball on the Wii--guess who always won? Shannon loves our Sparkie-doodle (as she calls her). We loved being in their home and being a part of their family - no matter how many miles separate us. Now we look forward to seeing them in the fall in the Ozarks for some camping time.

We attended high school graduation for Kickapoo High School to see another "grandson" graduate - and he was one of the speakers at the Commencement! Spencer gets to be our grandson by virtue of the fact that we adopted his dad as one of our own when he started college at Missouri Valley College in 1972...and the relationship has remained strong for 39 years. Next week it will be Jerry's honor to officiate at the wedding of Spencer's sister, Meredith, in Sequin TX...and our whole family will be present. (Hooray for Carla coming next week!) Another blessing of being in Wichita this past year was that Kansas was in Mike's territory for his business, and we were able to spend evenings with him several times as he traveled through. We will miss those evenings and those visits! Thank you all for being our friends - and for sharing this journey we call life with us. You are special!

Wichita to Wimberley via Elkhart IN

2011-05-12T16:46:00.087-06:00

The year in Wichita is fast drawing to a close. What a joy it has been to be this close to Carla (once again) . She spent Easter with us and we celebrated her birthday as well. And then I was blessed to have her present to make my Mother's Day complete. NOTE: On Mother's Day, Carla was with us...and on Father's Day, Jo was able to be with us - isn't that great? We each got to share our special day with one of our children!

The church family honored us with a Texas Barbeque lunch following worship--good food, great fellowship, and special memories to take back to Texas with us. This is our dear friend, Bob McCune, leading the group in singing "Home on the Range" to bring the festivities to an appropriate close!

One of the highlights of our weekend with Carla and friend Pat in Wichita was the opportunity for us to meet some more members of our friends' family. Sam and Mardelle Moyers' family from California were in for a visit - and their son-in-law is Eric Close. Carla had been a big fan of "Without a Trace" which Eric did for 7 years. Most recently, he is in a summer series entitled "Chaos". He was charming, down-to-earth, and the whole family was just plain fun to be around!

And then the day arrived - we left Wichita heading towards Elkhart IN to pick up our new RV and trade in this one. Here is Jerry making the last run on this Itasca that has given us so many fabulous memories--it has served us well, and we are so glad we had it. I called the folks we bought it from, and left them a message telling them how much we had enjoyed it..how many miles we had put on it..and what a blessing it had been to us. I had a nice call back from them catching us up on what had been going on in their lives, including a battle with cancer. Finally, we are in Elkhart, and Jerry gives a big "thumbs up" as he examines the new Phoenix Cruiser. (You can check it out on their website, if you are interested - model 2400.) We are so very pleased with it!

AND THEN - WELCOME HOME TO WIMBERLEY TX!

God at work

2011-05-09T20:36:00.000-06:00

The interim is completed in Wichita, and we are on our way to new adventures - back to our new home in Wimberley with our new motor home..but first we are on our way to Elkhart IN to make the trade. And so this is the the story of the first day of the journey and God's incredible blessings for His family.

It was time to stop, and we really wanted to dry camp someplace...but along I-70 east of Kansas City you just don't run across Wal-Mart Supercenters, which is our favorite spot. So we decided to pull off at Concordia MO.

Now Concordia is not very far from Marshall MO, where we spent 13 fabulous years...and when you live that close, there was never any reason to go to Concordia, so we were not familiar with it...except to know that it is a strong Lutheran community with several Lutheran churches and schools...its lovely in appearance, clean, well-kept homes...and as we drove around on this Sunday evening, we couldn't locate the city park, so I offered to go up to a home and see if the folks would mind us parking on the street at the side of their home. And here was a nice home on a huge lot with adults in the driveway--perfect.

As I walked over towards them, the gentleman walked towards me..and I ask him if he would mind if we parked on his side street. He suggested traffic was a little heavy on that street, why not use the church parking lot. I had not noticed there was a church on the other side of his house. He tells me he is the pastor (first God-incidence)...so I tell him my husband is a retired Presby pastor (who is very good at flunking retirement!)...he says he holds dual membership, Disciples of Christ and Congregational, and this is a Congregational church he is serving. So we check out the parking lot...it wouldn't work for our size...so he sends us to the Community Center parking lot across the street.

Now we are set up, sitting in our lawn chairs enjoying the Missouri breeze and cool evening, and he walks over to tell us he has notified the Police that we are there with his permission, and all will be well. He meets Jerry...and finds that Jerry is an AAMFT counselor, while he is a Pastoral Counselor with a small practice in Blue Springs (God-incidence #2). He asked about Jerry's pastorates, and when Jerry said "Enid OK", he says he is a graduate of Phillips Seminary (God-incidence #3..since I was Registrar at Phillips for several years), so he and I share names of acquaintances. And then we start on the pastor friends we share (God-incidence #4)--Dave Carter in Hobart OK, Lloyd Gentry in Aurora MO, Bob Sweeten in Marshall MO - all Disciples and all pastors our new friends knows.

We swapped cards and thanked him profusely for his hospitality, had a great night's sleep, and were on the road when he called to check on us. Thank you, Dr. Alan Gatewood, pastor of the Bethel United Church of Christ, Concordia MO.

Once again, there is NOTHING like the Family of God!

Birthdays-always a celebration

2011-04-15T10:39:00.057-06:00

Birthday week - what a great time in our life..we celebrate our births with thanks to our parents, we share special times with friends, I rejoice that for 5 days Jerry and I are the same age, we see family, and in general - we have a GREAT time. Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes for us. In these pictures: Jerry skypes with Jo as she shows him her gift - the creation of his own website. I am sorry most of you missed her original creation, which was hilarious--but trust me, as soon as Jerry saw it on the world-wide web, he had her remove it promptly from viewing! What remains is going to be, one of these days, a legitimate website for him as he hopes to make himself available to lead weekend retreats, Bible studies, marriage & family workshops. Check it out (and watch it mature) at jerrymaxhilton.com.
I had my birthday cake (one piece with 4 forks, please note) out to dinner with our friends, Bev & Richard Spann; while Jerry had a tiny birthday cake with our friends, Mardelle & Sam Moyers, as we watched the Final 4 and bid farewell to our favorite season of the year--basketball. (And what a season it was for US -- Crane Mo HS won its first EVER state title in its division and Midland College came in 2nd in the NJCAA tournament.) His birthday pie was one of Carla's now-famous pecan pies--his favorite. We shared our birthday in Springfield MO with 4 other friends/relatives at a grand party hosted by our El Paso cousins, Bill & Wayne--the "out-laws" (those who are not originally from Crane MO) were in the minority as the "in-laws" (Crane natives) had a great reunion and told stories that not many would believe! The 6 birthday folks were: Johanna Cunningham, Bill Wagnon, Carolyn Barnett, Dick Vaughn, and the Hiltons. Johanna, Bill, Carolyn and Jerry were all Crane HS graduates, while Dick and I were fortunate to be included as "out-laws." Our thanks to Bill & Wayne for celebrating US in such a great way!

Once upon a time..the story of five friends

2011-03-31T12:22:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time, in a community in mid-Missouri called Marshall, there lived a lot of very nice people. Among those folks were Nancy, Sally, Carol, Mary and Gretchen. These women were not gray-headed and old, as they are in the picture, but rather were young, vivacious, busy with homes, husbands, church, school and raising children. They taught Sunday School together, shared leadership in Brownies and Girl Scouts, participated in Missouri Valley College activities, floated Missouri rivers, went on family camping trips, baby-sat with each other's children (it really DOES take a village to raise a child!), made apple butter together every fall for a total of 35 years, celebrated Mardi Gras with pancakes, brought in the New Year in someone's home, and lived their lives in love, laughter and harmony. The years came and went...now the children are all grown, many have children of their own, most of those children live many miles away; we shared our grief in the death of Gretchen's husband a few years ago; everyone is retired; and Mary & Gretchen no longer live in Marshall - Gretchen in Iowa and Mary in Texas. But for this evening the end of March, we gathered at Cedar Crest Lodge in Pleasanton KS to enjoy an overnight together - sharing two meals, and reminiscing over our many years of blessed friendship...swapping stories of kids and grandkids, and being grateful for each other.
Thank you, dear friends, for a heart full of precious memories.

Dr. Scott W. Peters, Teaching Excellence Award

2011-03-25T10:36:00.000-06:00

Dr. Scott W. Peters, Assistant Professor at Texas AandM University, San Antonio, was selected by his students to be a recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award in the Fall 2010 semester. We are so proud of our son-in-law!

San Antonio visit

2011-03-22T13:26:00.000-06:00

The trip to Whitney gave us the opportunity to go by and check on our new home in Wimberley, get some landscaping underway, and spend an afternoon in San Antonio with Jo & Scott. It was a gorgeous Texas afternoon and we enjoyed spending the time on their deck. Jo and I are modeling our new scarves we just received from Indonesia, created by Sri Dusyanto. Sri is Any's mother...and of course, you remember that Any is our oldest daughter who was an AFS exchange student with us. What fun to be able to wear something so special. Not only that, but we got to meet our newest grand-dog, Taiga--I wish I could have held her when she was a tiny puppy and loved to cuddle, but she is now growing like a weed--but she is absolutely gorgeous! Our next get-together will be to celebrate Jo's 46th birthday right after we move back to Texas--HOORAY!

Barista Daughter

2011-03-18T19:39:00.032-06:00

Carla has started on a new track in her life as a barista at Starbucks (along with her work at the Bed & Breakfast.) Her training is completed and her mind is full of recipes for all the items Starbucks has to offer. She continues to wear a delightful smile and make every person feel very welcome - especially her Dad, who showed up with his very special Starbucks Gold Card to make a purchase from her! Her Starbucks is at 87th & Metcalf, should you find yourself in KC and need a coffee. We are proud to have a barista daughter! My favorite comment - she googled "Starbucks longest order" and came up with: "Carla is ready to learn how to make a Double Ristretto Venti Nonfat Organic Chocolate Brownie Frappuccino Extra Hot with Foam and Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended" which - of course - is non-existent, since "frappuccino" is a frozen drink, and "extra hot" would be--well, hot, of course!

Bible Study Retreat in Texas

2011-03-04T19:38:00.061-07:00

Last fall Jerry received an invitation from the good folks at White Bluff Chapel community near Whitney TX to lead a Bible Study retreat over a weekend...one of his favorite things to do, and he gratefully accepted the challenge. It turns out that we had four friends who were members of WBC--Ann & Jim Duncan (shown with us at breakfast), and Marilyn & Mike Pollard. The Pollards were members of FPC in Midland during our years there. The Duncans are friends we met at Bloys Cowboy Camp Meeting - Ann's Mom, Pansy Evans, was one of our favorites; and one of Jerry's heroes in the faith for many years has been Joe Evans, who turns out to be Pansy's uncle. They were instrumental in gaining Jerry this invitation--and we had a fantastic time. White Bluff is a retirement community built on Lake Whitney. We were lodged in the White Bluff Resort with a great view of the lake..the weather was not cooperative, so we didn't get to enjoy sitting on our balcony overlooking the water! Many folks turned out for the studies on Friday night and again on Saturday, where Jerry taught on Revelation. The Pollards hosted a dinner on Saturday night with many new friends and a delightful evening. Worship on Sunday was a great experience--these folks come from all kinds of religious traditions and the service is a beautiful blend. The choir is unbelievably wonderful, full of folks who have probably had years of experience singing in their own local church choirs before retiring to WB...and they continue to share their gifts. We felt so at home with these folks, and look forward to going back to White Bluff another time, perhaps in our RV--its only 3 hours from Wimberley and has its own RV park!

Loaf-Off Contest

2011-02-26T19:37:00.040-07:00

This was SUCH fun! To enter the Loaf-Off contest, you made a huge pan of your favorite meat loaf recipe and brought it to The Anchor, a great pub in Old Town, Wichita. We bought our ticket, which was in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, picked up a plate with the sides of mashed potatoes and green beans, and walked past all the entries, picking up a little tiny cup (like a paper medicine cup or pill cup) with the name of the provider on it..and sat down and enjoyed. You were given 3 ballots to cast. When we finished eating, we went back through the line and dropped our ballots in a jar in front of the ones for which you were voting. In the photos you will see some of the big pans of meatloaf that were offered, and one of the cleverest (IMHO) in her dispay (she even had sequins/beads glued on the scoop). My dining companions were Ann Graham, a delightful new friend from Grace Church, who was kind enough to tell us about this occasion; and Bob McCune, our 94-year-old friendliest greeter at Grace..he's been assuming that responsibity for over 40 years and does not intend to give it up any time soon! Jerry joined us as soon as he could, so that he could sample the meatloafs.

Best Friends Forever

2011-02-05T13:45:00.006-07:00

Cedar Crest Lodge is located just outside of Pleasanton KS, about 50 miles south of Kansas City, just north of Ft. Scott, KS, and across the state line from Nevada MO - a great location. I urge you to check out their website and find a time when you can go spend a night. The rooms are a delight, the meals are amazing (I recommend you also make plans for dinner there), the views are spectacular, and this past week some very special old friends met there for a wonderful time of visiting, knitting, quilting, with lots of laughter. Sitting beside Carla (in the valentine vest) is Nancy Rabe from Marshall MO, and across the table sits Gretchen Bearce from Pella IA and me. The Bearces and the Rabes became friends in the mid-60's when their husbands were both associated with Missouri Valley College. The Hiltons moved to Marshall in 1972, and from then on we were all part of one big family - from the college crowd to our church family at Covenant Presbyterian to neighbors. Our 3 families were all originals in the Apple Butter project as well. Carla has visited both of these family friends at their summer homes in northern Wisconsin and Michigan...and now enjoys my friends as much as I do (now that they are no longer being surrogate mothers to her!) A couple of years ago, after Carla visited both of them up north, she commented to me how much fun it was to be friends as adults with Nancy and Gretchen, and not as "Mary & Jerry's daughter". There is a big change in perspective and world view in that observation! Nancy and I showed up at the B&B with the same marvelous flannel nightgowns, which is a favorite for each of us-I had given Nancy hers for a birthday a couple of years ago! The next morning, as we gathered for our superb breakfast served by the owners, Matt & Laura, we were surprised with a visit from Phyllis Garrett, who lives in Monett MO--we've all been friends from those days in Marshall, and in 1977, the Garretts joined the Bearces and Hiltons on a British trip. So we all have many many memories that we share, and this was another memory-maker visit.

Tears for Christmas

2010-12-26T14:11:00.008-07:00

One usually thinks about Christmas as being a very happy time - lots of laughter and sharing, filled with joy. And it always is that in our household..but we also have our share of tears on Christmas. None of us will ever forget that Xmas many years ago, when the girls were in middle-school days, when Jo's Christmas present to Carla was a home-made kite--made from newspaper! That brought tears to Carla's eyes, I can assure you! Or the year that Jo could not come to Midland for Christmas day, so she made a videotape of herself interpreting in American Sign Language, the C&W song "That's My Job"...which had all of us in tears, including my Dad and Jerry! This year was no different!
Jo discovered she had an addiction to Dove Peppermint Bark Promises during December and was heartbroken to find that there were no more to be had in San Antonio. But her sister both delighted and surprised her by gifting her with another package she found in Kansas City--life is good!
This was followed by Carla opening her very special gift from Jo & Scott--a year's membership to the nearby Community Center where she can workout and shape up to her heart's content! It was something Carla had talked about for some time, and she was absolutely overwhelmed with their generosity. Moments like these deserve to be memorialized in print to be sure we never forget!

Christmas in Kansas City

2010-12-25T20:13:00.015-07:00

We observed the holiday by decorating our coach --we were surely the star of our RV park! Our family Christmas was headquartered at Carla's home in Prairie Village KS. While the rest of you were taking advantage of after-Xmas sales, we were celebrating our Christmas. After observing Xmas eve with our church family at Grace Pres, we headed for KC the next day to prepare for our Xmas. Pat Mundy joined us on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning we were all at KCI to welcome Jo & Scott to Kansas City.
These times are just so special - we spent time at Union Station, where Carla volunteered several hours over the season driving the Children's Train, and we loved watching her in action. We saw movies - "The Fockers", "True Grit", "Winters Bone". In addition to all the good food, we spent some time playing Left-Center-Right, making no one rich in the process!

The gifting, laughing and sharing lasted most of the day on Monday - Carla is showing you one of the bags (I was the recipient of the other) that were made by Jo's precious friend, Vicki, from some of Jerry's old ties--a marvelous way to put old ties to use! Carla was the recipient of the queen-sized bedspread t-shirt quilt...she has been saving t-shirts since she was in high school, from various camps, mission trips, college, and concerts..and they came together in a glorious manner that will be a memory book for her the rest of her life. The memories of our Christmas cannot be captured in pictures or in words, but are etched on our hearts forever--thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift of His Son!

Thanksgiving in Kansas City

2010-11-25T20:12:00.008-07:00

Thanksgiving in Kansas City means being a part of the Plaza Lighting ceremony..something we have enjoyed many times over the years. This year was no different. Pat Mundy was with us as we celebrated the holiday at Carla's house. (Pat and I had just spent the previous week in Kansas City living in her trailer parked at the Heartland Presbyterian Center, doing wonderful tourist things - like Christmas shopping at the various malls, seeing the 25th anniversary screen production of "Les Miserables", and visiting the World War I museum, as well as Crown Center). And after that - we celebrated all for which we are thankful with Carla and Jerry. As you can see, this is a "before" picture on Thanksgiving evening:

And here are the after pictures...fireworks don't show up very well in my snapshots, but the lights are spectacular, as always!

Apple Butter Days

2010-10-09T20:22:00.003-06:00

Back in 1975 in Marshall MO, a group of families who spent a lot of time together socially and professionally, and who had children close in age, decided it would be fun to make our own apple butter. Raynors owned the huge copper pot and stirring ladle (now replaced by another one because we wore the first one out!), and the tradition began...each family peeled and prepared their own apples, the men started the fire early in the morning, and we all gathered out at a spot on the Raynor's farm called "Stickery Thicket", where we combined food and snacks, roasted hot dogs over the fire for lunch, and eventually canned up the apple butter. The earliest picture of our family was taken in 1976 (the 1975 photo did not copy well!), the one of the 3 of us was in 2005, and Carla and I were there for the last one. In honor of the last year of this tradition, one of the originators, Gretchen, assembled a wall-hanging from squares created by some of the families who helped get this started. We have so many wonderful memories of these annual gatherings..and eating the apple butter (did you ever put warmed apple butter over vanilla ice cream? It is delicious--and the way we always end up the day, serving up gallons of ice cream and ladeling the bottom of the kettle into the bowls. Try it!) The youngsters who helped us stir and who made the apple cider (and drank it all!) are now the able adults in the crowd, and their children are now playing in the tree house and grinding the apple press...and so life goes on. Maybe, just maybe, one of those in the next generation will pick up the tradition one of these years--but we will no longer be the ones responsible for peeling all those apples, stoking the fire, and preparing all those jars and lids for the canning process! Take it away, kids! And thanks to Richard & Carol for this marvelous memory-maker!

Fall Fun

2010-09-12T13:35:00.010-06:00

Some Presbytery business for John Calvin Presbytery in s.w. Missouri gave us the opportunity to spend a little time there...and what a grand time we had. Pat joined us at Mike & Phyllis Garretts for a day at Silver Dollar City to usher in the Christmas season. It could not have been a prettier day--not too cold, with spectacular lights, and an unbelievable Christmas tree, whose lights worked in syncopation with music--we loved the day!

We met precious family friends, Wanda and "Dr. Bob" at Beulah's Cafe for breakfast. Beulah's is a one-of-a-kind cafe, and Carla (who is currently unemployed) might have found her next opportunity!
Jerry's opportunity to preach at First & Calvary PC in Springfield brought about a marvelous reunion with folks--some expected and some very unexpected! Our surrogate son, Mike, and his family live in Springfield, so they came to church, giving us an opportunity to meet their international student living with them this year.

Each of the young men pictured with Carla and me were from our church family in Aurora MO when Jerry served there in l968-72. Jay (with Carla) was probably not only in her nursery school class, but also later was in Drury College with her--needless to say, I did not recognize him! Brian (with me) was in high school when we were there, and a vital part of our youth group. Both of their parents were very dear to us during our years in Aurora. There is nothing like the church! The family of God is so important to us, and our paths keep crossing with these incredible young people whom God has placed in our lives--we are so grateful!

And lets not forget the cousins--of course, Jerry has numerous relatives in that area. These 3 pictured with him were kind enough to make a trip to Wichita one week-end this fall so we could have time together, and then we all gathered in Springfield, giving us an opportunity to see some of their children and grandchildren as well - and many of them worshiped with us at First & Calvary. Jerry is pictured with his cousin, Marci, whose birthday we were celebrating that weekend. These are very special cousins, indeed!

Irishfest 2010

2010-09-03T16:28:00.001-06:00

We journeyed to Kansas City to attend the Irishfest, held for the last 7-8 years on the Crown Center grounds..and what better thing to find than the green fountains nearby..lots of booths enticing us with Irish products..and bringing back lots of memories for us of our family time in Ireland. Take your choice - fish 'n chips, or maybe bangers & mash, or perhaps brats...we opted for the fish 'n chips and it was delicious! What is more Irish than a gorgeous huge celtic cross - again bringing back lots of memories of our trip to Ireland. Carla, Jerry and I are joined by Pat Mundy (Enid) who is part of our family now. We heard a bagpipe rock'n roll band playing - besides being very loud, Pat's comment was the best - its nice to know a bagpipe can play something besides "amazing grace"! Best of all was the phenomenal fiddler we heard, which - of course - Jerry loved.

Alphabet Soup

2010-08-25T16:27:00.002-06:00

Carla tells me that I had a very strange experience while at her house...I had a TGA. Ever heard of that? Its transient global amnesia...and I will just have to take her word for it, because I do not remember a single thing about it (thats why its called amnesia, right? One minute we were picking up piles of weeds in her back yard that we had been pulling, and the next minute i was lying on a bed in the ER of St. Luke's...and in between an hour and a half had gone by. Well, I am not sure I want to believe all the things Carla tells me transpired during that time...my conversation was OK, I dressed myself to go to the hospital, I repeated a lot of things over and over and over, I spoke on the phone to my son-in-law, but now its only her word against mine! Carla took me to exactly the right place - St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, renowned for its work with brain, stroke, and heart situations. I was blessed to have Carla by my side the entire time, day and night, and her friend Lesa keeping us company in the ER. I was blessed by a terrific team of doctors and nurses, who checked on me all the time, day and night. I was blessed to hear from many of you, or you talked to Carla, and your prayers supported me. The alphabet was a very important part of all of this - for I had a TGA (not a TIA, as first suspected); they ran me through every test you can imagine..CT scan, Echocardiogram, MRI, MRI Brain, EKG, ECG, EEG (someday I'll check out what all those mean!) The neurologist told me I had "nice brain waves" and everyone else agreed I was just fine. So they sent me home to resume my life as before..no changes, no meds, and my fervent prayer that it does not ever happen again! I am so grateful to all those caring folks at St. Luke's. Fortunately, I have very little hospital experience, and this was a very good experience.

Kansas City & Marshall MO

2010-08-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

Carla and I made a day trip to Marshall MO - we lived there for 13 years, both girls went all through school there and graduated from Marshall High (Carla just returned from her 25th reunion - how could that possibly be?) Some special friends joined us at the country club for lunch and lots of visiting - all of these have very special connections to us and the friendships have been ongoing for many many years. The group included Sally & Scotty Campbell, Virgil & Nancy Rabe, Larry & Anita Wright, and Don & Norma Rutter. Wasn't that fun? The passing years have made the friendships stronger, and the stories seem to get bigger and better with each passing day. Thanks to all of you for all those memories! There is a downside to all those passing years, and one of them is our former home on Brunswick St. in Marshall. This was a house where Jerry hung out often when he was a college student at Missouri Valley College and the house belonged to his buddy's grandparents during college days. We had some of the most fabulous times in that home - we put our heart, soul, sweat and blood into redoing the inside of the house. It was the setting of many many gatherings of these friends, our church family folk, the college youth (called Rap 'n Sing) which met every Sunday evening in our living room, the porch swing on the front porch where we spent every available moment, and on and on the list goes. Well, it is pitiful today...and nearly broke my heart. The walls of that house are filled with lots and lots of love and laughter as well as tears and aches...and its falling apart. But here is the only upside....when we lived here, the lot was pretty barren..and Jerry planted anything he could get his hands on. One of our college students came by one day with a tiny little sapling in a paper cup...it was growing up between the cracks in the sidewalk in front of Black Hall (then a men's dorm) and would be pulled out and destroyed, so he thought Jerry might like it. WOW! Or the memories of this tree--Grandma Lucy, a precious dear oldster in our church family, wanted us to have a sycamore tree, so one day it was delivered to us and planted in this spot. Later, when we built the family room on the back of our house and opened up the kitchen, the room size was determined by what would fit without disturbing this tree or its root system! Just look at it now! And then our favorite time at Carla's home - morning coffee (or it could be evening - we don't care when it is!) around her firepit on her back deck. Thank goodness for cooler weather so we can do this now. Its a joy to be this close to Kansas City and the opportunity for more time spent with Carla. In September I join her to host our PEO chapter at her house. Carla is the president of our chapter this year, so thats a special joy for her mama!

A PS to Summer Entertainment

2010-08-15T14:58:00.000-06:00

Before we leave, I just need to add this...as I mentioned earlier, the hottest outside event ever was "Beauty & the Beast" at Starlight last Thursday. However, the evening was made perfect by friend Lesa, who brought us all princess items to wear into the theatre so we could be in the theme of the show. Jerry was the best of all...I must say the later earrings he wore set off the tiara better--they were actually bracelets which he looped around his ears. But this was marvelous. Thanks, Lesa.

Summer experiences

2010-08-15T14:10:00.000-06:00

This has been a great summer for theatre. When we found we would be coming to Wichita, Carla got us season tickets for the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. Both Jerry and I have memories of going to productions there many years ago (this is Starlight's 60th anniversary!) We have seen a glorious production of "Beauty and the Beast" (on the hottest evening I can ever remember being at an outdoor event), Mo-town music in "Dreamgirls", Melissa Gilbert herself as Ma in "Little House on the Prairie"...and we look forward to "The Producers" and "Rain" to complete the season. This month Pat, Jerry and I headed for Palo Duro Canyon. This has to be a well-kept secret in this country--its just spectacular..who needs the Grand Canyon? If we thought it was hot in Kansas or Oklahoma, you should have joined us at the bottom of the canyon! When Pat's thermometer hit 128 in the sun, she packed it away--we don't even want to know! The production "Texas" was superb...great enthusiasm, dancing and singing from all those folks in the play...their energy was amazing. The amphitheatre built into the bottom of the canyon with those steep walls is glory in itself--especially when the deer stand at the top and look down on you...and the cowboy on his horse rides to the edge of the canyon wall carrying his flag. It makes you proud to be a Texan even if you are not!

2010 Bloys Cowboy Camp Meeting

2010-08-14T16:14:00.008-06:00

Camp Meeting began in 1890 in Skillman Grove, just outside of Ft. Davis TX. (If you really want to read more about its history, you can google it!) In the beginning it was probably tents and wagons, then cabins, and now we have an RV park across the highway, where we can park our motor home. Our RV spots have full hook-ups, so we are very much at home. If we could not take our RV (as was the case when we were in Sammamish WA), the Presbyterian pastor has use of the Presbyterian Cabin, a little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, cabin centrally located on the grounds. The setting is gorgeous, the altitude is 6400' so the nights are cool, and the sky is radiant. What an opportunity! One of our neighbors in the RV park called for a jam session on the evening before camp meeting opened...lots of good folks brought their lawn chairs to listen to the guitar, keyboard and fiddle make music together, with good singing as well. I sure hope this becomes an annual event, for my fiddler husband thoroughly enjoyed himself! Three meals a day are served by the six cooksheds - there is plenty of good food, I can assure you. This is one of the cooking teams at the Burnett Camp who serve up a great breakfast. The children are just a delight. All ages have their own programs going on during the day in various locations. This youngster was so pleased with his bubbles that I just had to capture him for this blog. The kids love to climb on the boulders that surround the camp, climb the mountain to find the Bat Cave, and the temperature does not seem to bother them at all! Family and friendships form the Bloys Community. For many families, it is always their family reunion and folks come from far away to be present. We met Peter & Diane from WA a few years ago, just as we were preparing to move to WA for an interim. So Bloys has now become our reunion time with them. Ralph, Pat Mundy (Enid OK) and Jerry visit on the porch of the Presbyterian cabin. Ralph & Sally (Midland) have joined us for several years at Bloys. One evening the Greens joined us and we headed for Van Horn TX, halfway between Ft. Davis and El Paso, to meet our El Paso family & friends who met us for dinner at the newly remodeled and opened El Capitan Hotel. What a great occasion. There are 4 denominations among the clergy..preachers are from the Baptist, Disciples of Christ and Methodist churches, while the Presbyterian pastor teaches the Bible Study. This was Jerry's 4th year to have this opportunity, and he opened the Book of Acts for us. Each pastor is invited by his denomination. Only the Baptists have a time limit on it, and their pastor serves for 5 years. That meant that this was Jim Dennison's 5th and last year to be with us, and we shall miss him next year. It was truly a highlight for Jerry to have Marge Carpenter with us for a day. Marge was moderator of our denomination in 1995-96, loves Jesus, and is a powerful advocate for the mission work of the church. Jerry had closed the previous day's Bible Study by starting to tell us of some of the folks who are in his personal Hall of Fame and only mentioned the late Andy Edington and ran out of time...so he was to begin the next day by telling us some others--walked into the Tabernacle that morning and there was Marge, who was the next person Jerry intended to mention. Now is that a God-blessing, or what? This week is so special - there are so many blessings that we see happening all around us every day. The preaching is certainly annointed, and the music is like unto heaven, I am sure. Thanks to all of you who have a part in Bloys for making it possible, and for allowing us to be a part of it. P.S. Here is a video clip taken by a friend at Bloys - perhaps you will enjoy it, and also get a feel for the fabulous inspiring music that was shared during the week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzR03mnRG24&feature=player_embedded (You may have to cut and paste.)

The Empty Cabin

2010-08-14T14:47:00.004-06:00

When we first moved to Midland, we were invited each year to come to Bloys Cowboy Camp Meeting by the Beals. This is their cabin at Skillman Grove, site of BCCM. We attended several times, usually just for one or two nights, sleeping in one of the many sleeping rooms in this cabin. The porch held a wonderful swing on the end, and the big wooden rockers would be brought over from the ranch and placed on the front porch. All day and evening there were folks sitting on the front porch, visiting with each other, praying together, talking about the Bible Study that morning, or sharing insights from one of the sermons we had heard. And the children--lots of children and youngsters of all sizes and ages, running up and down the stairs, climbing the nearby boulders and mountains, coming in for water, playing on the tire swing. The walls of the kitchen of the Beal cabin are covered with signatures and comments from previous years, newcomers adding their names to the growing list. Each year grandchildren and friends were measured and their growth recorded on the sheet rock. Let's not forget the homemade ice cream--one evening of the week, ice cream was churned in the kitchen, and we would gather after evening worship and share in its deliciousness, with all the toppings. In my years of attending Bloys, this cabin has been the center of activity and family times, so it was heart-breaking to walk by and see the cabin windows all closed up, and the doors padlocked. The absence of any of the Beals in our Bloys community left a real void in the lives of many of us who were regular visitors on this porch. We treasure the memories that we have built being there. The absence of any of Beal family at the 2010 Bloys Campmeeting was our loss, and we hope that next year we will be reunited there, and once again, the cabin will ring with laughter, hugs, ice cream, and special conversations. P.S. The absence of any of our friends in the Beal cabin this year was just "one of those things"--conflicting schedules, pre-school activities, a 50th anniversary celebration the weekend prior out in Colorado--just scheduling conflicts that could not be avoided. So perhaps that will change next year.....

Our new dream home in Wimberley TX

2010-06-26T16:32:00.005-06:00

What a dream this past month has been. Moving has to be a major cause of temporary insanity - unless you have the love and support of friends and family! Our dear friend, Pat, (from Enid) came to Wichita for a visit before we headed out on our road trip to Wimberley in her trailer. For a week before the moving van arrived, Pat helped me get ready to move in, lining cabinets and cupboards, dreaming of where things would be placed (NOTHING is where we thought it would be, I might add!), moving boxes of books from Jo & Scott's attic, unpacking all of Jerry's library (which didn't fit, I might also add - still too many books!), moving in a piece of furniture we had purchased last December in San Antonio (and meeting a wonderful new neighbor who gladly came over to help get it out of the truck and in to our house). In between we took advantage of the opportunity to try out restaurants in our new town, and became very good friends with all the nice folks at Ace Hardware! Our new town may be small, but when you have the Ace Hardware and the Brookshire Brothers grocery store, you are set. The movers unloaded, and you couldn't get through the garage--I think the boxes grew and reproduced while they were in the moving van. We were reasonably sure we had cut down, thrown away, donated, shared all we could - but guess what? We hadn't! Jerry arrived to find his library waiting and he had his work cut out for him! Jo came up twice to help us unpack, friends in Wimberley blessed us with dessert one evening--just the pick-me-up Pat and I needed, and brought dinner over at the end, so we could just sit and enjoy our new home. The real creation of this home began when Bill and Wayne, our cousins from El Paso, arrived. Bill has had Hilton Interiors in El Paso TX for over 40 years..and what a gift he has. He ordered, we moved furniture, we tried it out, we changed our minds, so he changed his mind, and on and on it went - and miraculously, the new home was created and it is just perfect. We look forward to being able to share it with you some day...but in the meantime these few pictures will have to do. There is an album posted on a Wal-Mart photo site, so if this link works, perhaps you can enjoy even more pictures. http://photos2.walmart.com/walmart/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=829559008/a=1056305008/ We are so grateful to Bill and Wayne for their creativity as well as sweat on their vacation, to Pat for her friendship and hard work, to Nita and Ron for their enthusiasm and food, and to all of you who are such an important part of our lives. We look forward to enjoying this special place (with its heavenly view) when we complete our time in Wichita. In the meantime, we are grateful for our friend, Paul, who is living in our house. Rejoice! This is the day that the Lord has made!

47 years ago...our new life together began...

2010-05-23T16:57:00.007-06:00

May 23, 1963, in the chapel of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City, we were married. Our wedding took place on the same day that my grandparents celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. And here we are - 47 years later..blessed with our daughters, Jo and Carla, and our AFS daughter, Ani...blessed with our son-in-law, Scott Peters...blessed with church families from five pastorates--Hobart, OK; Aurora, Mo; Marshall, MO; Enid, OK; Midland, TX...interim church families in Wichita KS and Sammamish WA..and now, in this next exciting chapter of our life, we are moving into our new home in Wimberley TX next month, but will not be living there for another year, as we do another interim in Wichita. God is so good! We have been able to enjoy our retirement with lots of travel in our motor home, and keep crossing paths with all kinds of friends from all the places we have lived. We are so grateful to all of you for being a part of this journey--thanks for your support and friendship..and thanks be to God for bringing us together back in Chicago at McCormick Seminary...and thank you, Jerry, for sharing this life with me--for better or worse!

Low Sunday becomes High Sunday

2010-04-21T08:43:00.003-06:00

The Sunday after Easter is known in the church calendar as "low Sunday". One of the reasons is that it is the first Sunday of worship following the resurrection of our Lord, which was celebrated the previous week with all kinds of glorious music, pomp and circumstance. It can also be a low Sunday in terms of attendance, after the excitement of worship on Easter Sunday. In Presbyterian circles, it is sometimes referred to as "Associate Pastor Sunday" because the senior pastor frequently is not the one preaching after the busy schedule of the Lenten season. But for whatever reason, the 2nd Sunday of Easter is called Low Sunday -and our Low Sunday turned in to a very high Sunday for us in terms of worship. In the morning we worshipped at Manhattan Pres in El Paso. This is one of the small and struggling congregations, having in the past been a much larger and viable group of believers. On this particular Sunday, the worship team was simply incredible...the preacher, liturgist, song leader and organist. Preaching was Zoomer, a layman who lives his life dealing with a neurological disorder (originally misdiagnosed as Lou Gherig's disease) causing him great difficulty in both walking and using his arms and hands. He is blessed with a great singing voice and has often led the music when we have worshipped here before, but this was our first opportunity to hear Zoomer preach God's Word--and he did it powerfully. Jerry told him later it was one of the best sermons he had ever heard. The singing was led by Zoomer and Theresa, who is a professor of nursing with Texas Tech in EP, and has a beautiful voice. The liturgist, JB, is a retired teacher of English & Drama so you can imagine the quality of her voice as she led us through the service. Playing the organ is Valora, who is blind. The music team of Zoomer, Theresa and Valora gather at the church early on Sunday morning, and go over all the music together. If Valora can hear it, she can play it...and she plays it beautifully. When church was over, we felt as if we had truly worshipped and been in the presence of the Lord, through the ministry of this incredible team. Thank you and God bless every one of you. To end the day, we worshipped at Divine Savior Presbyterian Church, an Hispanic congregation, and one of our PCUSA churches in El Paso who have been gathering together for worship every Sunday evening since the first of the year, listening for God as the Presbyterian Church in El Paso. The service was conducted in word and music in both English and Spanish, with several different pastors participating in the leadership. As the body of Christ we participated in the Lord's Supper together. This was truly a great day of worship as the Family of God!

Birthday Joys....

2010-04-10T11:57:00.005-06:00

Our birthdays were such a joyous occasion...such a blessing, even if it means being one year older. For Jerry, the birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year-- wow, that was really a celebration--being in worship, absolutely heavenly music, singing the Hallelujah Chorus together, and a perfectly glorious day. It also meant that now Jerry and I are the same age--which I always enjoy! The birthday cake was an Italian Cream Cake (for which my mother was famous), and Jerry's choice for his birthday cake..and sister-in-law Jan outdid herself. The only downside (if you call it that) is that the candles on top of the cake read 143--our total years together...whew! We celebrated it with Jan and Jim, and nephew Steve, niece Nancy, and great-nephew Jacob at our last "American Idol" gathering. After that celebration, we headed for El Paso, where we celebrated with my surrogate "sister" Judy, her husband Lynn, and our cousins, Bill and Wayne. Judy baked the German chocolate cake for the eve of my birthday...and then, when I became a year older than Jerry, the cousins took us all to Cattlemans, a fabulous restaurant out in Fabian TX (39 miles away from their house), but oh, so worth it! While we dined, the coyotes, peacocks, peahens, rabbits and little critters were up close and personal, right outside the dining room windows. The western art decor is magnificent, with lots of bronzes (many C. M. Russells) everywhere. It is always so heartwarming to receive birthday greetings from so many friends and family - and since we are on the road, Facebook provided a perfect vehicle for sending those wishes..including our AFS daughter, Ani, in Jakarta, and phone greetings from some special friends in various places who remembered the date and took the time to call--and we haven't talked to them in ages. Thank you, one and all, for all the good thoughts and wishes--we are grateful. In the last picture, Bill and I once more celebrate together with the birthday balloon that he received when we were gathered here to celebrate his 75th on January 29th - and it lasted until my birthday on April 9th. That was one fine balloon!!! Birthdays can be very special, and its our friends and families who help to make them so...we are grateful for all of you!

Spring at McDowell Mountain Regional Park

2010-03-22T11:29:00.002-06:00

God's world at its best in the springtime!

Memories of Kansas City

2010-03-18T09:05:00.013-06:00

We made the flight to Kansas City to be with Carla while she had surgery..that was the downer part of the trip. But all the rest was an upper--Carla came through her surgery with flying colors, now has been released by her doctor following her post-op, and we shared some wonderful times. Here is a picture collection of some of our good times! Many of Carla's friends came by for a visit, to play games, or bearing food--thanks to all of you. Meet "Missy" (Sprigg) Chvatal and 3 of her children...my Polish lesson taught me to pronounce her last name as Waddel--is that right, Missy? Missy and our daughters went through the Marshall MO school system together. The last time I saw Missy was in Las Vegas in 2005, when our family was walking down The Strip and passed Missy and her husband, who recognized us and spoke to us. We also had a visit from Janelle and her two daughters, Lauren and Presley, which ended up with games on the floor. I first met Janelle in early 2000s, when she came as an adult advisor on the Mission Trip with the Pine Ridge Pres youth to assist with a "Faces of Children" conference in Washington DC. Its always good to catch up with her and see her growing family. As I mentioned, Jerry did some work on Carla's yard (grass seed, fertilizer, and straw) before becoming immersed in the Big 12 Basketball Tournament. He loved being a part of the excitement and seeing all the basketball, even if things didn't go as he had hoped (and neither did the NCAA March Madness, I might add!) I was able to attend the championship game with him (loved the Chick Fil-a ad!) Carla's numerous adventures to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina have made a beignet-lover out of her. She cooked up some delicious beignets for our breakfast one morning. Carla will be in London/Edinburgh over her birthday near the end of April, so we had an early birthday celebration during her recuperating. The Britain magazine had pound-notes tucked in the pages for her to discover! During our time in Kansas City we were also able to spend some special time with Jerry's cousins, Jim and Jane, and visit with friends from Marshall MO who were in KC. We so enjoy being in Kansas City, since our relationship with that city goes back to the early 70's..its exciting to see what they have done with their downtown, and the new Power & Light District. We will be only three hours away in Wichita KS for the next year, while Jerry does an interim at Grace Presbyterian Church, so hopefully we will be spending some time -- we've already bought our Starlight tickets! We are grateful for all your prayers and support and expressions of concern during and after Carla's successful surgery. Thank YOU!

Kansas City, March 2010

2010-03-10T17:20:00.008-07:00

Its early March and we find ourselves back in Kansas City, having flown in from Phoenix last Saturday. Sunday morning found us worshiping at Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church, where Carla serves on the staff. The young man with Jerry is Jason Brock, who is originally from Marshall MO, where we lived for 13 years. Jason's Dad was the principal of Marshall High School when our daughters were in school. Early during our ministry there, Jason was BORN..yeah, thats right...born...and grew up in that church. He is now married to Keely, whose father played the trumpet along with Jerry in the city band, and they are the parents of two precious little boys. What a treat to meet his sons and have a visit with Jason and Keely. The family of God continues to amaze me! We are here because daughter Carla had surgery on Monday. We can share with you the "before" picture as she was being prepared for the operation. You don't want to see the "after" shots! All went well and it was all done laparoscopically, which is a miracle in itself. Her housemate, Lisa, has had two surgeries in the past week and we were able to bring her home from the hospital on Tuesday. So the two of them are recuperating together. We've been blessed with friends who came to be with us at the hospital and others who have brought by yummy food, and all the prayers and good wishes via email and Facebook - thank you all. Such a considerate daughter--she intentionally planned her surgery to coincide with basketball to the delight of her Dad. His friend in Enid had an extra ticket for sale for the Big 12 Tournament. So Jerry did yard work all day yesterday to help Carla out, and now is getting his fill of basketball--of course he was disappointed with Mizzou's loss this afternoon but we all know he is having the time of his life. We will stay with Carla and return to Phoenix the middle of next week.

McDowell Regional Park

2010-02-26T20:13:00.002-07:00

McDowell has to be just a slice of heaven...we have decided it is our 2nd most favorite place to camp, second only to Cape Fair on Table Rock Lake. Its high desert..many different kinds of cactus all around us...tall stately saguaros offering homes to tiny birds...and the 4 peaks, which I now know are the mountain pictured on the Arizona license plates. (I wish I could take credit for the 4 peaks with the full moon, but I can't..it was shared by friend Nancy, and taken by her friend Chris..so thanks, Chris.) The hiking trails abound around here. We have done several of them--Bluff Trail, Granite Trail, Scenic Trail, Wagner Trail...some nice folks passing us up on the rim during the Scenic Trail hike took our picture so we could remember the moment. It was a 4.3 mile hike total, with lots of uphill climbing, and consequently downhill as well (tougher on the knees.) But its not very hot here yet, so the temperature was perfect. Here is a photo of the home of some of our neighbors..this is my favorite cactus, called the Teddy Bear Chollo (sometimes the "jumping chollo" as evidenced when one of those little critters literally jumped under Sparkie's chin..her immediate reaction was to try and paw it off, and then we did have a massive problem!) Some bird has built not an efficiency apartment, but a whole condo...it surely has at least 3 rooms in it--its very long!) We were treated to a rare sight this past weekend...it was a rainy one, with numerous thunderstorms passing us by. On two different occasions, we were blessed by full rainbows stretched across our campground. No photograph can do it justice but at least it is a reminder to us of God's grace and abundant love for us - and our memories hold the real picture of the rainbows we saw.

Happy 75th, Bill!

2010-01-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

What a joyous occasion to celebrate cousin Bill's 75th birthday in El Paso over the entire weekend of January 29-30. There were several folks formerly from the home territory of Crane MO who gathered for the occasion..Mary Jane and Bill Wagnon, Joanna Cunningham, Carolyn Barnett, Jerry Hilton and "Billy Pierce", our honoree. In the pictures you see all these folks, including Carolyn's friend, Dick...the trio of Pat Mundy from Enid OK, Mary and El Paso friend, Judy McGuirk...Jerry with Bill Wagnon and Joanna Cunningham, and then our gang out for the traditional Saturday morning breakfast at "The Clock" in EP. Thanks to Wayne Tallant and the McGuirks for hosting the birthday party (and Bill loved his gift basket from Susie's South Forty in Midland). The stories that were told have no doubt gotten better over the years..but the weekend of laughter, hugs, sharing and celebrating was unforgettable.

For all that has been....

2010-01-26T11:20:00.006-07:00

Dag Hammarskjold said it best: For all that has been......THANKS! For all that will be......YES! Its a bittersweet moment - selling our warm, friendly, blessed home in Midland - but a joyous one as well as we have met the new owners and know they will enjoy this home as much as we have. Our possessions have been loaded once again by Emrichs - the 4th family move in which they have so ably assisted us. We will move in to our new home in Wimberley around the 1st of June...but in the meantime, we head out for more adventures as we journey west. Enid friend Pat Mundy will join us today with her trailer as we head for El Paso to celebrate cousin Bill's 75th birthday and then on to McDowell Regional Park at Fountain Hills AZ for an extended stay. We plan to be back in Texas for the Bob Wills Days at Turkey in April. Praise God for all these adventures!

HEB Feast of Sharing

2009-12-26T20:49:00.009-07:00

One of our memorable family outings during December was to volunteer at HEB's Feast of Sharing. Texas's grocery store chain served over 17,000 folks on that Saturday - buses brought folks in from all parts of the city, a marvelous band played dance music and some Christmas carols, folks were dancing, visiting and generally enjoying themselves. Pat and Mary cleaned off tables, while Carla and Jo were greeting at the front door. Meanwhile, Jerry brought his pocket trumpet and stood outside the front door of the Convention Center playing Christmas carols to the delight of the incoming guests. All during November and December, Jerry searched for a Salvation Army band that would let him play his trumpet with them--and he couldn't find any SA band anymore. So he just decided to do it by himself! Thanks, HEB, for what you do in our communities..many are grateful.

November in Kansas

2009-11-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

We spent most of November in the Kansas City area, camping at the beautiful Presbyterian conference center, Heartland--a spot we have loved since 1972. And we made lots of memories during that month. We had coffee with Loyd & Lillian Gentry--back in the late 60's, Loyd and Jerry both pastored in Aurora MO and we laughed together over many fun times we spent together. The new Power & Light District in KC is really an amazing place--what a boon for Kansas City and its inhabitants...we ate at the Irish Pub, went dancing, and watched Jo ride the mechanical bull. When Jo & Scott flew in, the 3 of us went to pick them up sporting pink hair--to make Jo feel right at home. And guess what? She got off the plane just a blonde--not a trace of pink. But we offered the other travelers a good laugh (especially Jerry in my Mom's wig!) Breakfast at Chubbie's is always memorable. We were blessed with a visit from Carla (Haas) & Al Adams, pictured here with Mike Price (whose family shared Thanksgiving with us at Carla's.) Back in the early 70's, these 3 were college students at Missouri Valley College and members of our "Rap 'n Sing" college group that met in our home every Sunday evening. The Adams live in PA where Al is the Presbytery Exec for Beaver-Butler Presbytery. Our Carla has seen the Adams over the years, and the Prices and Adams had a brief get-together a year ago..but what a treat it was for all of us to have a little time together. Thanksgiving evening ended, as it always done when one is in KC, by going to the Plaza Lighting--and we were not disappointed with the spectacular display of lights. And lastly, after the Lighting ceremony, Jo and Meredith Price prepared for the Black Friday shopping (which began at 1 a.m.!!!) by taking a little nap. The only female missing from the shopping adventure was yours truly, who was smart enough to go to bed! It was a blessed Thanksgiving, and we are grateful for every memory we made.

Sculpture Tour

2009-10-31T18:33:00.003-06:00

Here are just a few of the sculptures of Seward Johnson that were on exhibit in various parts of Chesterfield MO while we were there. They were an absolute delight to behold....children playing on them..folks getting their pictures taken by them. Jerry's funny experience was sitting beside the workman on the bench, and rather than having coffee with him (as he is doing in the picture) Jerry was sitting there working on his cellphone when he realized that a little boy was standing right beside him staring at him. When Jerry looked up and moved, the youngster was totally startled, and his parents began giggling as they watched - the child apparently thought Jerry was part of the sculpture!

The Awakening

2009-10-29T07:44:00.002-06:00

The Awakening is the latest addition to the public art collection in Chesterfield MO. This monumental sculpture, measuring 70 feet in length and 17 feet at its tallest point, was first cast by sculptor Seward Johnson in 1980 for a sculpture exhibition in Washington DC, where it resides. This second casting is now in Chesterfield. It is absolutely amazing...if you are in the St. Louis area, please don't miss it. Your imagination runs wild as you consider this giant awakening from our earth...think about it!

Dr. Edmond Babler State Park

2009-10-24T20:46:00.005-06:00

What is more fun than a cook-out, especially on a very cold crisp autumn day? We didn't let the cool temperatures stand in our way. The cook-out and hike through Babler Park were shared with the Worleys, part of our extended family ever since Janelle and Jo lived together for several years in Chicago. We were all at Tim & Janelle's wedding in Chicago, and have visited them every place they have lived since then. Nothing better than chowing down on a roasted brat, is there, Garrett? Unless its a s'more, right, Shannon? Garrett is now 10 and Shannon is 7 - and they were a delight to spend time with...even if they both beat up on their Grumps in a video game, who is very inexperienced at video games, I might add! Both kids are very attuned to our world around us, encouraged by their nature classes at the Center for Creative Learning, so we had our own guides on the trail as we discovered spiders, analyzed a dead field mouse, found a natural spring, and checked out all the trees and changing colors. It was a memorable day!

Rap 'n Sing

2009-10-21T19:53:00.003-06:00

Over 35 years ago, while Jerry was pastoring Covenant Presbyterian Church in Marshall MO, he had a group of college kids who gathered in our home every Sunday evening for "Rap 'n Sing". Last Sunday afternoon, Mike Price (center) of Springfield MO, and Randy Orr (left, St. Louis area) joined us at the farm in Rolla MO for an afternoon of reminiscing and great laughter -- and if you were in that group and are reading this, please know you, too, were talked about!!! Thanks to Facebook, several others in that college group are sharing with one another again. We met Randy's wife, Jill, for the first time - and that was a joy. Thanks, Mike & Randy, for making the effort to come and spending time with us. It seems like yesterday we were gathering in our living room!

Parking Violation

2009-10-21T19:40:00.002-06:00

Pat Mundy (friend from Enid), Jerry and I returned to Pat's very new and very large GMC 3/4 ton truck which Jerry had carefully parked in a Silver Dollar City parking lot straddling a white line to keep it from being dinged..and found the following note on the windshield: PARKING VIOLATION State...license number...time...make of automobile..(all properly filled in ) This is not a ticket, but if it were within my power, you would receive two. Because of your bull-headed, inconsiderate, feeble attempt at parking, you have taken enough room for a 20 mule team, 2 elephants, 1 goat and a safari of pygmies from the African interior. The reason for giving you this is so that in the future you may think of someone else, other than yourself. Besides, I don't like domineering, egotistical or simple minded drivers and you probably fit into one of these categories. I sign off wishing you an early transmission failure (on the expressway at about 4:30 p.m.) Also may the Fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits. With my compliments. It was all worth it just to receive this ticket at the end of our day!!!!!

Tess - before and after

2009-10-19T19:31:00.004-06:00

Two years ago, Pat Mundy (Enid) was camping with us at Cape Fair on Table Rock Lake. While taking pictures of the fog rising off the James River, this stray dog wandered up to us. Pat cannot resist a wounded, suffering, pitiful dog in any kind of shape! He wore a piece of logging chain around his neck with a bolt through it. This dog could not have broken it--he was dumped. So Pat decided that when we returned from Silver Dollar City, she would rescue this dog if she was still around. So we stopped..and she was. We made a stop at Wal-Mart to buy a collar and leash for her, along with some medicated dog shampoo and dogfood. Back to the campground we went so Pat could begin her gentle washings, pettings, and an attempt to make friends with this pitiful creature. A few days later Pat took her back to Enid with the first stop being her vet to determine what her health problems were...and they were numerous. Now to the naming of this new dog in her family--since Pat's church was reading the Bible in 90 Days, she decided to name her Tess, short for testament. And Tess she became. Slowly Tess began to grow a new coat and recover from the mange, but it took a long long time. Isn't she a beauty? This is Tess, two years later..a fine dog, an excellent camper, a friend to Sparkie on all our adventures. Tess, I hope you know how fortunate you are that you crossed paths with Pat! We look forward to camping with you at Christmas in San Antonio.

Marionville White Squirrel - at last!

2009-10-07T08:25:00.004-06:00

I first visited the Hiltons in Crane MO in 1962. The closest town is Marionville MO, billed as "the home of the white squirrels". What white squirrels? Jerry has always said he has seen them there, but I never ever saw a white squirrel. 47 years later, I have just seen my first white squirrel in Marionville. It happened last Saturday, when we were in Marionville to visit the Pumpkin Patch with our Monett friends. Jerry and I took a little drive through the town- actually Jerry was looking to see if he could find his great-aunt's house...and he said "there is a white squirrel that you say doesn't exist in Marionville." WOW. I not only saw it with my own eyes, but I got to take pictures of it. Thank you, white squirrel, for finally coming in to my life! You really do exist.

Isaiah 43:19: I am about to do a new thing

2009-10-05T18:56:00.006-06:00

On Dec. 11, 2006, the Crane Presbyterian Church burned to the ground in a devastating fire late in the evening following the church's Christmas program...for Jerry as well as many many others, it was a great loss--years of memories of being raised in that church, the beautiful stained glass windows, the library of photos and memorabilia, and on and on the list goes. As the word spread, many folks gathered nearby to watch the fire burn out, pray for the firemen who were able to keep it from spreading, and share their grief and tears together. The next day the back wall of the sanctuary was left standing with its 3 crosses, which were metal. 2009 - Jerry has the privilege of preaching for six weeks in the Crane Presbyterian Church in a new and vital location on the east edge of town. The 3 metal crosses have been remounted on wooden crosses, and are hanging on a wall in the narthex, as you can see in the photo. The pulpit was one which was not in use in the sanctuary, but was in the entryway and was pulled from the building before it spread that far. My favorite is the cross on the communion table, which received its baptism by fire, and now stands on the communion table, reminding us that Jesus is always the center, no matter what happens to that which is made by hands. Isaiah says: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?...The people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

Jammin'

2009-10-03T08:38:00.016-06:00

"> > For Jerry, this has been a fall for jamming. It began with the mini-class reunion, playing on Don's front porch in their beautiful Stone County home. He started jamming with a group that Don has at his home on Thursday evenings. From that came the opportunity to attend the Jenkins Family Reunion at Mars Hill on a Sunday afternoon, where they accompanied these 3 sisters as well as many others who came to the open mic to share their talents. At Silver Dollar City (as you know, our all-time favorite spot!), he played with the Homestead Pickers at the Pickin' Shed. He jammed here at the campground with a fellow parked across the road from us who had his guitar...and that person has a jam at his house every Monday evening - so that's where Jerry will be tomorrow night, honing his skills on that fiddle. He had a lesson last week from an outstanding fiddle player we met last Sunday. So all in all - his musical ability is gaining. In ten days we will go to Rolla to stay at the family farm of a Midland friend, Jerry Gahr. Jerry called today to say that he and his wife will also be in the area...JG plays the banjo in a bluegrass group of FPC'ers who call themselves "The Backsliders". Jerry was able to play with them several times this past summer. So the two Jerrys will be doing some pickin' and singin' on the porch in Rolla as well. Oh, the opportunities are endless. That's the beauty of this part of the country--there's lots of pickin' 'n singin' going on everywhere. Watch out, Nashville!

A new Water Well

2009-09-16T16:50:00.004-06:00

Another water well has been dug in the Presbytery of Eastern Uganda, and we are humbled at this gift in our honor. What a blessing! We in our country take so much for granted - and clean water is just one of those. We turn on taps, turn on showers, open the hose, and there it is. But in Uganda, clean water is a precious commodity. With the digging of 37 wells by First Presbyterian Church of Midland, we have shared in the gift of better health for many of our brothers and sisters. These pictures bring tears to our eyes and joy to our hearts. Thank you!

We're #1!

2009-09-03T08:08:00.004-06:00

Destination - Rogers AR, along the Wal-Mart corridor in northwest Arkansas...to visit with Jerry's cousin, Betty (who works for WM) and her Mom, Aunt Timmy. We've been RVing for over 40 years now...and we had not yet ever spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot, something which many RVers as well as truckers do. Most WMs are very friendly towards us, and have huge parking lots that can accommodate us. We have talked about it several times--but never had done it. Betty, when we spoke with her on the way up, suggested we stay at the W-M at 21st & Walnut in Rogers...and so we did. It was a great place to spend the night and do our grocery shopping--and the biggest, cleanest, widest-aisled store we have ever been in. We had a good visit with one of the store managers (who looked every bit of 16--has anyone else noticed how the persons in responsible positions in our country are getting younger and younger?). Randy also told us that we were staying in Wal-Mart's first store - the first one in that huge chain. So thanks WM - for a good evening in your parking lot in your first store. Now we can say we are among the RVers who have overnighted at a W-M parking lot!

You go nowhere by accident....

2009-09-02T19:35:00.007-06:00

"You go nowhere by accident"...we had a plan for that day, but it didn't happen. Our nice neighbor in the RV Park pointed out to Jerry that we had a potentially dangerous tire problem...so instead of pulling out to continue our journey, we hung around the RV park while someone came and replaced the tires. And then we were on our way, knowing the road we were going to take, but no plans as to how far we would get or where we would spend the night. We were ready to call it a day and were on the lookout for an RV park near Mena AR when we saw a beautiful campus and an RV Park sign--and Jerry turned in. "Wherever you are, God has put you."...There was not a soul around...the brochure box on the sign was empty. But the place looked inviting and lovely. A man in a pick-up drove up, so I asked him if we were able to park in a pull-through campsite and spend the night. He told us to follow the road and help ourselves to a campsite. So we did just that. The setting was exquisite--huge tall pine trees, an amazing view, a few other RVs parked around but almost no people. On our walk, we noticed the emblems on some of the RV's--we were at the Christian Motorcyclists Association campground. It is an amazing place - and apparently all those there must have been out on their bikes "riding for the Son". We spent a delightful and restful night. The next morning, we dropped a contribution into their night dropbox, grateful for the opportunity we had for rest and refreshment. As we drove out of the campground, this banner hangs overhead--"You are now entering the Mission Field." How appropriate - may we remember every day as we leave our homes for school or work, or perhaps leave our RV park - that we are now entering the mission field. Thank you, CMA--we are proud of your investment in this fine camp facility near Mena AR. A favorite benediction at our church goes: You go nowhere by accident. Wherever you are, God has put you. Wherever you go, God has sent you. The living Christ who dwells within you has a purpose for you to further His Kingdom. Amen? Amen!

"R" is for retirement - and so much more

2009-08-29T07:09:00.004-06:00

R - for retirement...and once again Jerry is in to the retirement mode and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. R - for relaxation...and how much more can you relax than enjoying friends' pool or sharing a hot tub with your daughter. R is for reunion...a special evening with our college friend, Meredith. Many years ago Mere's Dad lived part of the time with us while he went to college...and now 20-some years later, Mere goes to college near Jo's, and just finished spending her 2nd summer living with daughter Carla in KC while she did an internship. R is for rewarding...and thats what this week has been. R is for rejuvenation and restoration. And what better way to relax than with Jo's stylist, our friend Robert, who somehow manages to work miracles. And indeed we did feel refreshed and radiant as we headed off to some of J&S's good friends for a magnificent evening - and plans for a fly fishing trip come December! R is for rest...and could there be a prettier place to relax than around this pool? R is for rejoice! And that's what we are doing as we begin yet another phase of our adventures in retirement as part of the Family of God. We relish the time you spend with us...whether we see you in Missouri, Texas, or Kansas..and the time you spend reading our blog and following along with us. We plan to leave late tomorrow afternoon to head across east Texas into Arkansas, and then southwest Missouri, after going to a matinee celebrating the History of Country Music at a theatre on the Riverwalk. These weeks that lie ahead of us promise to be days of reflection and re-creation in one of our favorite parts of the country--Table Rock Lake. Come on - let's go!

120th Camp Meeting

2009-08-12T21:16:00.000-06:00

What a joy to be a part of the Bloys Camp Meeting once again. This is Jerry's 3rd year as the Bible Study leader representing the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Bloys preached 4 times a day to the cowboys and their families back in the beginning, but later invited a pastor from the Baptist, Disciples of Christ and Methodist Churches to share in the leadership--and so it is to this day. Our leadership team was incredible--including Tommy Potter (Brite Divinity), Keith Wyatt (New Braunfels TX) and Jim Denison (Center for Informed Faith, Dallas.) At the top you can see our dear friends from Redmond WA, Peter and Diane Wilson...they are long-time Bloys folks. We met them two years ago on our first day there, just when we knew we were going to Sammamish WA for a year, and we shared a lot of wonderful times in WA. Our picture was snapped by their grandson, Chandler, who couldn't resist getting himself in one photo! Ralph & Sally Green joined us for part of the week, and we ate dinner one evening at the Paisano Hotel in Marfa--a nice outing. Before camp actually opened, we were invited up to a nearby RV park to join several other couples for a hobo lunch--and here you see those yummy foil packets cooking over the open fire--they were delicious! In the photo on the middle left you see that long white thing hanging from the rafter?

That is a rattlesnake, caught and killed by Diane's nephew..and provided great entertainment for all of us as we watched him gut and skin it. I'm glad I didn't see it when it was alive and rattling along the road! Along with the gifted preaching and teaching we heard all week, the music was heavenly--we have both piano and organ, as well as shared talents from many of the attendees, whose talent is all beyond description. It is an opportunity for many family reunions, and the fellowship and conversation is great. Not only that, we had plenty of rain early on, so the Ft. Davis area is beautifully green--and cool at night or in the shade during the day. I wish each of you could have the Bloys experience--it is a page out of the past and a real treasure. The Holy Spirit permeates the whole place--it truly is a sacred week.

Blessings in the summer

2009-07-18T19:29:00.002-06:00

Picking up the challenge from Jo's latest blog, please let me share one of my favorite blessings of this summer season...our tiny little feathered friends who live on our patio. On Facebook I shared pictures of our first summer inhabitants, but not on my blog. Imagine my surprise earlier this week when I discovered a NEW nest on our patio - this is our sixth nest we have, and the first new one in a couple of seasons. That little critter built it right under my nose and I did not even see her do it! Notice its cute location..on the shoulder of our little Irishman on a wind chime! Mama is so tiny that it makes me wonder if she is one of the babies that hatched and flew away last month? Who knows..not being familiar with the habits of hummers. But what a treat! Two of the tiniest eggs you can imagine..and she is a faithful mama, sitting on it most of the time, leaving only for very short periods of time. Mama fights with the purple finches, who also feed at our feeder, and sometimes she has support in the form of other hummers who join her in shooing them away! You are right, Jo - summer is rich and full of fun. I accept your challenge to blog about some of those things in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, what are you grateful for in the summertime? (You can read Jo's blog at http://cjoshoot.blogspot.com/)

4th of July

2009-07-17T12:04:00.000-06:00

What a great country we live in! We are so blessed, and our family experienced this 4th together in Midland, which was certainly a blessing. Carla was here to welcome her Dad home from Uganda, and Jo and Scott arrived on Friday morning, so we were able to hear his stories from the mission trip firsthand and while they were very fresh on his mind and memory. The creative girls made a DVD of all his photos, which will be a delight for us to watch...and hear even more stories. The time was spent visiting, enjoying the LaForce's swimming pool, time with Ray and Jane, our 92 year old friends here (only Ray made the picture with all his girlfriends!), playing bananagram around the kitchen table, eating fresh tomatoes from Ray's patio plants, and dining at Abuelo's, always a family favorite. Jerry preached that Sunday morning, so the kids were most pleased about that, and they had a chance to renew some friendships at church as well. We are so glad they were here with us, and we had that special time together.

San Antonio

2009-06-29T19:18:00.004-06:00

I certainly did enjoy myself while Jerry was in Uganda...as soon as he left town, I packed up and headed for San Antonio. On Sunday my friend, Sally Green, and I moved in to the Hyatt Regency on the River Walk and spent 3 days attending a Renovare International Conference--WOW is all I can say--the opportunity to listen to Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson, Chris Webb, and attend several workshops of my choice was a great opportunity. Sally and I enjoyed dinner on the RiverWalk one evening, while Jo and Scott hosted all the Midland folks at their home on the other evening - great time for all! Jo saw a skirt on the internet made out of t-shirts...her seamstress friend, Blanca, said she would do it--and as you can see, its absolutely adorable. Blanca is a master seamstress, and obviously extremely artistic as well. On another evening, Jo & Scott's friends, Tom and Michael, had us over to their home for swimming and dinner--what a marvelous relief from the heat of the day to cool off in their lovely pool. Michael was our chef...and here you see Tom and Jo with the two resident dogs, Sister Bernadette and Sister Scholastica. On Sunday, Jo and I drove over to visit her very special friend, Miss Vicki--Vicki, her husband, and two precious daughters left last week to move (permanently) to Walla Walla WA. Its been so special for me to get to know Miss Vicki over the years that Jo has lived in San Antonio--I met her when she showed up at Jo's house in her painting clothes ready to go to work when they first moved into their home--and there was LOTS of work to be done. She is a delightful friend, outstanding mother, a creative artist in her own right, and the only thing that makes this move more bearable to me is that Miss Vicki blogs frequently and I will be able to keep up with her growing family. For Jo, it was very sad--but she already has a trip planned to WWWa next fall! Jo wrote a wonderful blog regarding Vicki's move which you can read at http://cjoshoot.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html Its wonderful to enjoy your adult children so much...I feel so blessed to have had special visits in both Kansas City and San Antonio while we have been back in Midland. Our kids are all great conversationalists, creative and artistic, with definite opinions, compassionate to a fault, and surrounded by friends....Jerry and I are so blessed!

Uganda 2009 Team is on their way!

2009-06-19T19:19:00.004-06:00

The mission team should be in bed and asleep in Entebbe, after having departed Midland International at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Our theme "Sharing the Gospel Side by Side" is the logo on the team's shirts, as well as the shirts they will give to their interpreters in Uganda. These marvelous interpreters are students at the Bible College - and our team could not minister without their care! Sally Green and I were among many at the airport to see the team off. This is Ralph's 7th trip to Uganda, and Jerry's 3rd. We know they both look forward to returning, and seeing friends they have made in previous years. The scene at the airport looked chaotic...at the Packing Party on Monday night, we packed 37 suitcases with medical supplies, Bibles, Sunday School curriculum, games for children, surgical gloves, neosporin and who knows what else! But there they all were at the airport on Thursday morning, and suitcases were checked, weighed, repacked, and finally all loaded on to a Continental plane checked through to Entebbe. Each person is allowed two checked items, and we paid for ten additional suitcases to carry more supplies. They are all happy campers when they finally arrive at the hotel in Entebbe with all their luggage. (Last time, Jerry's suitcase didn't arrive until later, so this year he is prepared with extra clothes in his backpack!) We wish them God-speed, and we covet your prayers for all of them, for their health, for their rest, for their willingness to share the Gospel, and for all the blessings this will mean to them individually and to our brothers and sisters in Uganda.

The Night of the Bees

2009-05-27T11:14:00.008-06:00

Last night, as Ralph & Sally left our house and started down the sidewalk at dusk, Jerry saw LOTS of things flying in the air ahead of them, and cautioned them to stop. Its good they did...for on a low branch of a tree in our neighbor's yard just beside our garage was a huge beehive! Jerry called the police, who gave him the phone number for Bee Busters Inc. He arrived soon after, but by now it was totally dark outside. Tim estimated the hive to be the size of a football. Did you know that it takes 3500-4500 bees to weigh a pound, and this hive was probably 3 1/2-4 pounds? And further, it was not there when I walked over to my neighbors about noon. Those little rascals move fast! The Bee Buster (who turned out to be Tim, a member of our church family, and someone we have known for years) donned his uniform, and prepared a large white bucket (with a tight-fitting lid!) by placing some sticks and twigs in it. If he doesn't do that, to provide some airspace, some of the bees will die by being crushed in the confined bucket. He was glad it was night, because the bees don't like to fly in the dark, so I'm glad I didn't wait until this morning to call. He walked up to the hive, held the bucket up under it, shook the branch while pressing down on the hive, put the lid on it securely, and the job was over. The bees would then be on their way to a new location in the country. Tim told us that in the daylight we would be able to see white on the branch where they were beginning to build a honeycomb..but unfortunately, there were still a few bees who got left behind buzzing around this morning, and we decided it was not prudent to walk up for a closer look. But I think I'll go check it out now.....

Forty-six years today

2009-05-23T06:30:00.003-06:00

May 23rd, 1963, 4 p.m., in the Chapel of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City OK, Mary Margaret Sparks became the bride of Jerry Max Hilton...46 years ago today. Its been an incredible journey. I am very grateful for my husband, for his many gifts and talents, but mostly for his sense of humor and putting up with me. We have shared a delightful adventure, and have enjoyed sharing that journey with you over the years. Thanks for being a very important part of our life together. I love you, Jerry.

Congratulations Dr. Peters!

2009-05-16T19:48:00.005-06:00

Dr. Scott Peters, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M, San Antonio Campus. We are so proud of you. You have worked and studied very hard to achieve all that you have accomplished. It was our joy to share graduation with you last year, when you earned your PhD from the University of Texas (San Antonio). Now you are joining the ranks of the Aggies as you begin teaching next August full-time, having spent this year as an Adjunct Prof at both UTSA and TxA&M. Way to go, Son!

Jo's birthday

2009-05-11T15:21:00.006-06:00

Its that time of the year when we Hiltons spend five weeks celebrating our four birthdays - and this past weekend we honored Jo on her 44th birthday. (How can that possibly be????) It was a joyous visit...Jo and Scott had made several changes and improvements to their home since we had last been there, so that was really a treat. They also have wonderful new neighbors next door since our last visit, and John & Connie joined us for dinner one evening so we could all get acquainted--and we had lots of friends and acquaintances in common, as so often happens. Jo's choice for dinner was the LaFonda, fabulous Mexican food, and we were joined by our young friends, Meredith Price and her friend, Paul...and then back to the Peters' home for birthday cake and presents. It just doesn't seem possible that 44 years have flown by--Jo was the first baby born in the Presbyterian manse in Hobart OK in many many years, and the church organist rang the church bells loud and long so everyone would know of her arrival! Our family doctor had to be called away from Rotary Club meeting to get her delivered. And it just couldn't have been that long ago--could it? Jo is now deep into her photography career, and several of her presents will enrich that gift of hers...but who would have thought anyone would be so excited about an old Polaroid camera? As we left on Saturday morning for home, Jo was taking off on her scooter to assist with graduation at San Antonio Community College, where she serves as Director of Interpretive Services. I look forward to spending time with them in mid-June, while Jerry makes his third journey to Uganda with FPC Midland to spread the Good News of Jesus and plant another church in Eastern Uganda. Jo & Scott will be over here to welcome Jerry back upon his return from Uganda. Jo's actual birthdate is the 13th, so Happy Birthday to our first-born...we are so proud of you, and the woman you have become. You and your younger sister are such a blessing to us, and to all those who know you.

Pine Ridge connections

2009-04-27T09:57:00.008-06:00

Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church north of the Missouri River in Kansas City is a spirit-filled mission-involved congregation that we are very fond of. Carla has been on the staff almost nine years now (and part-time for three years before she went to seminary). The church is pastored by Jim Gordon, shown here with his wife Marcia. Our family involvement goes w-a-y-back, when Jim was a youth in our church in Marshall MO, and his Dad chaired the PNC that called Jerry to Covenant Church in 1972. Jim received his seminary training at McCormick Theological Seminary (as did both of us), and Jerry married them about 23 years ago. This week Jim's sermon touched on the Living Water mission trip he had just attended, learning to build fresh water systems in 3rd world countries--a mission dear to our hearts since Midland First has dug 23 water wells in our Uganda mission. The new sanctuary at PRPC is beautiful, and my favorite part is baptismal font, which is located in the middle of the center aisle near the front. It constantly bubbles gently. The bowl is filled with glass pebbles, and when someone is baptized, they are given one of those...or, when baptismal vows are renewed, the person can take one as a reminder of our life in Christ. The baptismal font is also a memorial to Jim & Marcia's fathers. This is Jason Brock, his wife and two precious sons, who are new members of PRPC. Jason and his wife were born and raised in Marshall MO, where we lived for 13 years...and Jason was born two years after Jerry began his ministry at that church, so we did literally watch him grow up. This, my friends, is one of those joys of ministry that Jerry and I are always awed about--seeing little ones raised in the church, crossing paths with them years later, and being able to rejoice in what God is doing in their lives. Jason's Dad was the principal of Marshall High School for many years, fortunately including the years our daughters attended MHS. Now meet Marve & Joyce Hohensee...we don't go quite as far back with them as we do with Jim Gordon and Jason Brock...but the Hohensees were members of our church in Enid OK, moving to Enid at almost exactly the same time we did, and leaving Enid for KC when we moved to Midland, so we have been friends for almost 25 years. When Marve was transferred to the KC area, I mentioned PRPC as a possible church home for them, if they settled in that north part of town. The first time they went out with a realtor to look at homes--guess what was lying on the front seat of her car? A bulletin from Sunday worship at Pine Ridge PC...and listed in the bulletin as part of the staff was our daughter's name. Marve told the realtor that Carla was the daughter of their former pastor in Enid...and now you know the rest of the story. It is such a joy to see them whenever we visit KC. And there are others - remember in a previous blog I mentioned Jerry's cousins in KC...we Worshipped with Jane on both Sundays I was there...one year the youth mission trip helped with a "Faces of Children" Conference in Washington DC, sponsored by FPC Midland...and another year, their youth came to Midland on their mission trip and worked with Midland Habitat for the week, staying at our church and being royally treated by FPC members. (One of the advisors told me he expected to lose weight on that mission trip, since there would be lots of outdoor manual labor, but every time he turned around, another FPC member was showing up with "goodies" for their break times on the job site...and how they enjoyed the hospitality of some of our members with the opening of their swimming pool for them each day, and good Texas barbeque one lunch.) Those youngsters are all away in college now but the adult sponsors remember those trips vividly. And so the Family of God connects and reconnects as we continue on our journey. Praise Him!

Happy Birthday, Carla!

2009-04-26T14:37:00.005-06:00

To make Carla's 42nd birthday very special, we did something she has been wanting to do ever since the Courtyard Marriott bought her former apartment building, the Park Lane Apartments, and turned it into a hotel. We rented the King Suite, which we thought would be her entire former apartment, but turned out to be only half of the apartment and invited friends to stop by to celebrate. It was a great evening...the view of the Mill Creek Park across the street is still fantastic, and she and her friends shared lots of memories of 1990-1993, when she called that home. Carla's apartment is on the top floor right, the one with the balcony (which is no longer accessible but only for looks, but in the old days served as a usable balcony overlooking KC!) Since it is on the National Historic Register, the exterior has been totally preserved, and much of the inside including the tiny "icebox" doors next to each apartment for use of the iceman and milkman. The Courtyard Marriott may think that THEY are the pride of the plaza, but we know better, don't we? Congratulations, Carla, on your birthday and for being the very special person that you are. We are so proud of you! To view an album of pics from Carla's orange birthday party, click on this link (or cut and paste), click "view slideshow", and on the bottom click on "show captions" icon. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=472726007/a=28011805_28011805/t_=28011805

Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City

2009-04-23T19:49:00.005-06:00

Its spring in Kansas City..and what better to do than fly kites, right? So Carla's high school friend, Michelle, and her two daughters from Independence KS joined us for the Flights of Fancy Kite Festival...these youngsters are absolutely delightful, and the four of us had a marvelous time picnicking on the lawn, watching all kinds and sizes of kites flying, getting faces painted, and seeing many other families enjoying themselves as well. What fun it is to see old friends..thats friends of long-standing, NOT friends who are aged, right? Gretchen, Nancy and I met in 1972 and shared family life in Marshall MO for a number of years. Nancy still lives there, while Gretchen lives in Pella IA, and Carla's home was a great place to meet for much visiting and eating and laughter. How did Carla grow up from a little girl to adulthood when none of the rest of us have changed? Jerry has some very special cousins who live in Kansas City, folks whom we always enjoy seeing when we are here. Tonight Carla and I met Jim & Jane for dinner at The Blue Moose..a delicious meal but even better was the conversation. Jim's Dad was a real favorite of Jerry's, and Jerry tells lots of stories from Lynn...and I know that Jim has inherited his Dad's story-telling ability! The evening passed all too quickly...and while Jim enjoyed these three women, I know he missed Jerry's presence. Tomorrow Carla and I are going to celebrate her birthday..and we will tell you more about that next time...so stay tuned.

He is risen indeed!

2009-04-22T20:15:00.005-06:00

What a glorious resurrection morning at First Pres, Midland! Jo and Scott came from San Antonio for a couple of days, amidst weekend weather that ranged from strong winds to beautiful sunshine to large hail...quite eventful. All our children are devoted to our dear friends, Ray & Jane, so it was very special to spend a morning with them over breakfast at Manor Park. These remarkable folks are over 90 years young, and an inspiration to all of us. My special moment came with a hug from David Bingham of Edmond OK...a college student at OSU, whose Dad was chair of the Pastor Nominating Committee in 1992 when Jerry was called to Midland. Thus David and his brother became our first "surrogate grandchildren". Its been a special joy to watch David grow and mature, and follow our Lord. In the summers, David has been working at Camp Barnabus in southwest Missouri, a camp for special needs kids. Camp Barnabus is located on the campus of what used to be the Presbyterian church camp where Jerry went to camp as a youngster...small world, isn't it? We visited David there a couple of summers ago and Jerry could share that with David. Our Easter worship closed, as is our tradition at FPC, with anyone in the congregation who wished to sing, joining the sanctuary choir in the choir loft as we praised our risen Lord with the "Hallelujah Chorus". Amen and amen.

Birthday are such fun--even if we are elderly!

2009-04-12T20:50:00.006-06:00

The first part of April means birthdays..and it seems the older we get, the more we manage to stretch it out! We celebrated our birthdays by going to El Paso to spend a couple of days with our cousins, Bill & Wayne...and were treated to a magnificent birthday dinner at The Edge of Texas in EP - I do highly recommend it, if you find yourself in El Paso. It was also special to spend time with our EP friends, Lynn and Judy. The three of us who were 70 years old had our picture taken together to commemorate the event..that would be Mary, Jerry and Judy! Jerry was attending a Faces of Children Prayer Meeting at FPC and was delighted to see his friend, Getanah and his wife. They are from Ethiopia, but sought asylum in the US after Getanah was persecuted for his Christian faith, and they now have a prayer ministry in the Washington DC area called "Watch and Pray". Jerry asked Mrs. Getanah if she would like a cup of coffee. She replied that she would, so Jerry got up to get it for her when she said something to her husband. Jerry turned and asked Getanah what she had said. Getanah told Jerry his wife had said "it is not right for the elderly to wait on me." So happy birthday...and we are glad to be elderly...we are just grateful to be alive. We appreciated all your cards, calls and Facebook remembrances.

Home Sweet Home

2009-03-28T12:18:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends and Family, Where are we, you ask? Midland, Texas - our home base Why are we here? Jerry is (once again) on the staff of First Presbyterian Church, Midland TX, as an Interim Associate Pastor with responsibilities for Mission and Evangelism for a six month period. What is he doing? Whatever it is, he is loving it! He has preached the two Sundays on either side of spring break, taught an adult Sunday School Class, teaching a Wednesday evening Bible Study on John, met with several committees, made hospital calls and home calls, and is getting acquainted with new staff and new programs at FPC. Where are we living? Friends are still living in our house while their new home is being built. So for the past 3 weeks, we are living in our motor home parked behind our house in the alley. It gives a whole new meaning to "alley cats" or "trailer trash" - take your pick! We have full hook-ups back here, and a perfect spot to park, and even a decent view! But the moving van for our friends arrives on April 2nd, house cleaner and carpet cleaners on the 6th and 7th, and then we will be back in our own house in time for Easter and company. What are our plans for the next few months? Jerry will be busy! In 1993, our Senior Pastor at FPC was an Associate Pastor here when we came to Midland, and he and Jerry had a couple of marvelous years working together. This is like a dream come true - back at FPC and working once again with Steve, who is incredible. Next week we will go to El Paso for a couple of days to celebrate Jerry's 70th birthday, back for Holy Week observances, and the arrival of our daughter Jo with her husband Scott, and our dear college friend Meredith. After Easter I am going to Kansas City to help Carla celebrate her birthday. Jerry is looking forward to being able to return to Uganda once again in June, while I attend the Renovare Conference in San Antonio and visit Jo & Scott. And in August, its Bloys Cowboy Camp Meeting once again. The time will pass all too quickly. What am I doing while Jerry is working? I am retired (remember?) so I am doing just what I want....back in my book club, beginning Pilates at the Y (and finding muscles I didn't know I had, and aches to prove that they are there!), visits with friends, being a "grandma" to a precious 6-month old daughter of one of our APs, and looking forward to living in our home for a little while. We are grateful to all of you who have been a part of our life. It warms our hearts to know you care, and you take the time to read our blog. We appreciate all your greetings, by email, snail mail, or Facebook. We rejoice that we serve a Risen Savior who binds us together in one family--I am SO glad I'm a part of the Family of God--aren't you? Love from Midland TX, home sweet home.

A book lovers dream come true

2009-02-16T20:58:00.007-07:00

For YEARS we have heard about the VNSA Used Book Sale in Phoenix, because our sister-in-law has been a volunteer for over twenty years. The booksale held its 53rd sale this past weekend, and we could not only attend but also could be volunteers and help out. This exceptional group offers over 600,000 books which have been sorted, categorized and priced all year long in their warehouse, and then set up in the fairgrounds in the most amazing display you have ever seen. Given the economy this year, no one knew what might be the outcome..but when we arrived shortly after 7 a.m., the waiting line was huge..some folks come during the night before to be first in line. You can see them outside waiting for the main doors to open, as those of us inside had the "countdown" to 8 a.m. Grocery carts are available for customers, but lots of people come prepared with rolling luggage, backpacks, duffles, whatever--and the books go out in all manner of carry-alls! We bought our own choices of reading material for the upcoming months (since I no longer am living next door to the public library!) The charities supported by the VNSA will be blessed once again, as the group raised about $440,000! One of our treats at the booksale was to meet up with Nancy Howard and her friend Otto. Nancy is a Facebook friend of ours now, but she is also a friend of my brother's in Phoenix when they both served in the Air National Guard, AND her real claim to fame is that she is from southwest Missouri--grew up in Aurora MO and her family is from Crane MO..so she and Jerry go way back. And by the way, my little brother had a birthday while we were in Phoenix, so we had a marvelous family dinner and celebrated the fact that he now another year older, and trying to catch up to his older sister!

May it warm your heart as it warms mine....

2009-02-08T17:20:00.002-07:00

http://cjoshoot.blogspot.com/ Some moments are just so special...like finding this on daughter Jo's blog. If you know our girls, I hope you will click on this link (or cut and paste) and read her blog entitled HER...and while you are at it, move on down and read HIM. Thanks, Jo and Carla, for blessing our life!

Friends, Family and Feenix

2009-02-07T20:46:00.007-07:00

It is a joy to find such a welcome when one pulls in to spend the night! Most RV parks don't make one feel so welcome...but our sister-in-law has a way of making us feel very special. They have kind neighbors who don't mind our little RV parked in front of Jim's house for a night--or two or three. The food is delicious...and the fruit trees are loaded with tangerines, lemons and grapefruits. What more could one ask? Thanks for your hospitality, Jan and Jim. Brother Jim was in Washington DC on a business meeting during THE football game...of course, he watched the game at a sportsbar with the OU Alum Club..but the rest of us left back in Feenix carried on the OU tradition in a way that would have made my parents proud (remember, in their 80's, they were still going to OU home football games!) We received an email from our dear friend, Shelley Cooper, from Wichita, telling us she was coming to Midland to visit her son and hoping to be able to see us--and then casually mentioned she was heading for Phoenix to visit her daughter and stepmom. So, of course, I wrote her back immediately to say we were not in Midland so couldn't see her there, but would love to have a visit in Scottsdale! Shelley and her late husband, Norris, were very special friends during our year in Wichita. Norris died way too young this past year, and we all miss him--but had a good time remembering stories, sharing tears, and laughing together. Their daughter Carley is so lovely...we were glad she was able to join us. And with their son, Corey, and his wife living in Midland, we do hope to see them when we are back in Midland. It is a small world, isn't it? Pat Mundy is a friend from Enid that has been adopted in to our family...and we were overjoyed to have her come to a horse show in Scottsdale while we were camped at McDowell Park. For one thing, while we have known all about her love of horses and the competitions she entered, we have never had the opportunity to see her compete, or see her in her riding outfit. For another thing, we haven't had any exposure to the world of horses--West World in Scottsdale is quite an experience. Besides seeing Pat ride, she was able to visit us at McDowell, sit around the campfire, make s'mores, and just enjoy being together.

Chihuly at his best

2009-01-23T20:16:00.008-07:00

There are not words to describe the beauty of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and the glassworks of Dale Chihuly. It is breathtaking. Colorful. Regal. Whimsical. Eyecatching. I am SO glad that we spent the afternoon there. Our first exposure to Chihuly was the Spencer Theater, Alto, NM several years ago. We saw the magnificent ceiling of the Bellagio in Las Vegas four years ago, his work at the Wichita Art Museum, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass in Tacoma as well as the Tacoma Art Museum. And now this...what a blessing, and what joy the artist brings to all our lives. Our lives are enriched by this afternoon.

Congratulations to Pine Ridge Pres youth!!!

2009-01-18T13:15:00.002-07:00

There is a Director of Christian Education and a Junior High Youth Advisor, who (foolishly--or maybe wisely?) challenged their young people to the following: raise $1000 for World Vision 30-hour famine and the youth could dress the adults in outfits of their choosing from the thrift store--to be worn in church on the following Sunday. AND - if they should raise $2500 (how could they possibly do that??), the youth could dye their hair the colors of their choice. Can you guess what these energetic and enthusiastic young people did? They raised OVER $2500 for World Vision, and were delighted to fulfill the challenge. Carla's hair is now huckleberry blue and pink..and will be that for the next few weeks! Our hats are off to these two, to the fabulous youth of Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church in KCMo, and to the generous folks who pledged to the cause. Since Carla is on her way to her national APCE meeting next week in San Antonio, her Dad has suggested she wear a pin that reads "Ask me about my hair", giving her the opportunity to share the story of what one church (properly motivated) can do for a good cause. We are SO proud of all of you!!

Reflections on Christmas

2009-01-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

There are two different worlds in Las Vegas....the glitzy world of The Strip with all its bright lights, no clocks, and way too many people...the pic of the three Hiltons taken as we left the Barry Manilow Show at the Hilton LV (appropriate, don't you think?) Jo & Scott spent 3 nights at Caesar's Palace, so we got a small taste of that side of the LV life. The picture of Jo, Scott and Mary shows a part of the Christmas decor on The Strip. And on the other hand--you have the permanent residents of Las Vegas who live normal lives, just like you and me - and rarely take in The Strip!

Included is a picture of the five Sparks grandchildren. In the back is Carla Hilton. The front row is our hostest (with the mostest!) Sally Sparks Suppe, Jo Hilton Peters (and yes, she does have pink hair!), Nancy Sparks, and her brother Steve, who both live in Phoenix. Best of all was the joy my brother and I shared in watching our adult children thoroughly enjoy one another and share in Christmas preparations as well as clean-up! Jim and I each have a son-in-law who fit right in and seemed to enjoy all of us as well. My brother, Jim Sparks, and I are sitting in our niece Sally's home in LV, where we all headquartered for the holiday. Sally was a fantastic hostess, and what a joy to watch the younger generation be in charge. It was a Christmas with new traditions happening--Christmas Eve at Sally's was a Thai dinner, primarily prepared by Sally and her brother Steve, and the guest list included four young women students from Peru whom they had invited for the evening--a delightful addition to our family gathering. Our Christmas afternoon gathering/dinner was part of Sally's tradition since she married in to an Italian family. We were joined by some of her husband, Ray's, family and enjoyed a lasagna dinner.

Christmas Eve worship was truly a highlight. You will see Jerry pictured with Pastor Jim Houston-Hencken from First PC, LV. Prior to this calling, Jim was an Associate Pastor at FPC Midland, and they are all like family to us, especially their children, Peter & Paige. (See Paige's 10th birthday in a prior blog.) The music program at FPC is magnificent, and we were overjoyed at hearing their 35-40 voice choir on Xmas eve as well as the Sundays we were able to worship with them. (You may recall that we spent two months in Las Vegas with the H'H's following Jerry's retirement, so we feel very much at home with that congregation.)

Christmas morning was just the Hilton family celebrating in our motor home, with our felt Christmas tree hanging on the wall. This tree was originally made by my cousins, Sue and Carl (from Sequim WA) for his mom (and my aunt Bea) when she moved into the retirement home. It is perfect for our motor home, and we love knowing who made it and who has used it in past Christmases...just a little bit of family tradition from the Sparks side.

For more pictures of our Christmas in Las Vegas, click on this link:

http://cjoshoot.blogspot.com/

You'll enjoy her pictures as well, and I didn't want to duplicate her choices, so please check her out.

The Sparks family last celebrated Christmas together in 1984 in Phoenix, and our parents were with us. How they would have enjoyed this gathering as well..and it was a Christmas we will long remember.

Orange Grove camping is the best!

2008-12-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

This has been a str ange and interesting stop along our journey to Las Vegas. We arrived at the Orange Grove Park in Bakersfield on a gorgeous day..full of sunshine and surrounded by orange trees, and the opportunity to eat a fresh-picked one at that! Yesterday we had a nice morning, and then the rain started..and it rained and rained. But the rain seems to have been only right here in the Valley, and on either side of us it seems it was sleet, ice and snow...and by last night our highway (CA58) was closed going both directions. On our drive home from an evening of dinner and dancing at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, there were miles of parked trucks who could NOT head east as the highway was closed. This morning the line of trucks and cars filled all 3 lanes, totally blocking 58E for miles...and I have no idea how far that line extended. The picture cannot begin to tell the story. So here we are--spending another night in the orange grove, with a gorgeous sunny day behind us, and yet somewhere the ice and snow is wreaking havoc. Does it go without saying that we had a great time at Buck Owens?

old friends..and old memories

2008-12-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

I grew up in Pierre, South Dakota - a small town with one high school, a farm club baseball team, wonderful neighborhoods, and great people...I have wonderful memories of those days. My parents had a marvelous circle of friends that included the Graffs.

Last year I found out that the Graff's daughter, who was two years ahead of me in school, owns a company in the San Joaquin valley here in California. Well, today Jerry and I stopped by the Buchanan Hollow Nut Company in Le Grande CA. Its been over 50 years since Sharleen and I have seen each other. It was marvelous to see her once again, to visit her lovely ranch-style home nearby, visit with her husband, Bob, see some of her magnificent water colors and to come away with some delicious goodies from their business. Moments like that are irreplaceable, aren't they? And there are always some regrets as well - her Mom just died last week, at the age of 96. Thanks, Sharleen, for some of your time at this extremely busy time of the year for your business...and for all the memories I have of our life together in Pierre SD.

(You can look up the BHNC on the web and see the array of products they offer, plus views of the farms.)

We are on our way to Bakersfield CA - home of Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, and Jerry is SO looking forward to being there again.

Reminders of home....

2008-12-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today we had a little bit of home...we heard that Bass Pro (mother store is in Springfield MO, and we have been fans for years!) was opening a new store in Manteca CA....and off we went. It all seemed so familiar and comfortable to us...and the customers seemed to be having a very good time - and were amazed by all the stuffed animals, the enormous fish tank filled with HUGE fish, the big trees inside the store....and we wanted to tell them all that they should come to Springfield MO and see the original!

This week we also camped at Russian River RV Park - and the setting reminded us so much of our favorite camping place at Cape Fair MO - a Corps campground we have used for years and years...and brought back so many memories.

And then the vineyards -well, they certainly didn't remind us of home--but aren't they beautiful? We were awed by them...field after field, hillsides terraced, all in different stages of growth--we marveled at them. No wonder so many folks make trips to the Napa Valley on tours and vacations! We are having rain tonight...a very generous one, and I am sure the natives are delighted--they are very low on rainfall in this area, so its a blessing. And since we are warm and snug in our coach, with the red chili lights twinkling in the front window, our little fiber-optic Christmas tree glistening, and our Christmas cactus blooming--we don't mind if its raining outside!

Our love and greetings to each one of you...as you prepare for the birth of our Lord. Advent - the time of preparation for God's most marvelous gift ever. Praise Him!

Love, Mary and Jerry

Coastal travels

2008-12-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

This has been an amazing week...God's creation is so incredible and we have just loved all that we have seen and done. I knew Jerry would really enjoy Ft. Stevens (canon pic) and Ft. Clatsop--and he did. Astoria and Seaside were both great to explore.

The coastal drive with its magnificent vistas just took our breath away (especially sometimes mine, being on the outside and closest to the edge!) We hiked in to Stout Grove at the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and drove down the Avenue of the Giants, including driving through the tree (doesn't everyone want to do that?) We watched the tide come in at the mouth of the Klamath River--another spectacular vista. We are now about to head inland, still on the 101, and heading towards the California Delta area east of San Francisco. Its now time to fix supper and enjoy a quiet evening tucked in our coach. We love all of you, appreciate your taking time to read about our travels, and miss our friends in Sammamish. I am grateful for those of you on Facebook and feel like we are not totally out of touch. Have a good night!

A time of Thanksgiving - and reflections on the year

2008-12-03T18:20:00.001-07:00

The sight of these regal birds flying overhead is one I will miss. We have seen more eagles than ever in my whole life before this year..and they are magnificent.

Spending lots of quality-time with cousins that I never really knew before was another highlight...drives around the Olympic Peninsula, hikes to Marymere Falls (along with several of our guests), the beauty of the San Juan Islands and our quaint little cabin, ferocious domino games around their dining room table, my cousin's culinary skills which he generously shared...all this we will miss.

Renewing of old friendships that have lasted through the years...memorable Sunday "family nights" with Greg & Bobbi, and their son, Jason and Shaundra, with grandson Jake...a friendship that began in 1964; walking through this year with them as Greg battles cancer; Joe and Jane's numerous trips to worship with us at SPC from their home in Port Orchard, a friendship that dates back to 1972 when Jane's family and ours moved back to Marshall MO about the same time, and Jane used to babysit with our daughters; Jerry's college fraternity brother and wife who live nearby in Edmonds and with whom we shared several meals...these folks we will sorely miss.

New friendships in our church family with ties to our past - Stan, who was not only a classmate of my cousin's but also a fraternity brother--and they hadn't seen each other in over 50 years; Chris, our Associate Pastor, who comes out of Eastminster Church in Wichita where Jerry did his first interim; Becki, our Associate Pastor, whose home church is FPC Las Vegas, where Jerry helped out for a couple of months shortly after his retirement because their then-new pastor, Jim HH, had been our Associate in Midland; Donna, chair of the Interim PNC, whose daughter was a seminary classmate of our daughter's at PSCE; Zach, our Youth Minister, who spent one of his college summer's as an intern on daughter Carla's staff at Village Pres in KC; a church member who introduced us to her mother visiting from El Paso, who knows well our cousin in EP; Robert and his family at SPC, whose older brother was one of our "kids" when he was in college at Missouri Valley College and we had an incredible college-age youth group (and you should hear the story about how we discovered THAT link in our lives!)...all these folks and many many more whose lives have impacted ours in this one short year, we will miss.

Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the Lavender Festival, the phenomenal flowers that bloom all the time in this part of the country, Snoqualmie Falls, Pike's Market, the Ballard Locks, the salmon running, the gentlest rainfall you can possibly imagine (and almost all the time), orcas, the Space Needle, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, crabbing on the coast, bike-riding and walking on the numerous trails all over the area, a marvelous library right next door to our apartment, Trader Joe's, Costco, Whole Foods--shopping options we had not enjoyed before--all of this we will miss.

And the food--the very best salmon ever; and clam chowder that is unforgettable (so far we haven't found one we didn't like--just some we like better than others; the Thai restaurant right across the street from us; and Pine Lake Alehouse, the closest thing to a British Pub we have found in the US, also almost across the street from us; we will miss this fresh seafood area.

Many many friends whom we were able to see during this year - especially since Seattle is a most desirable place to visit! Some stayed with us, some we met somewhere for a visit - and all of it was much appreciated. We are grateful for all of you -- friends and family from Midland TX, Wichita KS, Enid OK, Providence RI, Marshall MO, Kansas City MO, and Phoenix AZ...and if I missed any of you, I apologize. But we loved your time with us.

We've made so many new friends....our first "new friends" were Diane & Peter, whom we met a year ago at Bloys Cowboy Camp in Ft. Davis TX. We saw lots of them this year, as they live close - and we look forward to our reunion at BCC next August. Our church family has provided us with many new friends. All of you have touched our hearts in some way, and we will remember our year shared in the great northwest.

Thank you, everyone, for your part in our year in Sammamish - Thank you, Donna, for the pieced quilt full of pictures of sites in the area..we will treasure it, wrap up in it to keep warm during our RV travels, and think of y'all when we do that. Please keep in touch--for all of you are an important part of our life. Isn't the Family of God amazing?

Thoughts from a writing class

2008-11-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

It was a treat for me to join with 12-15 others every Monday morning in a writing class offered at our church. We wrote for two hours--sometimes for 5 minutes, sometimes for 15 minutes--following a prompt offered to us by our wise and compassionate teacher. I had never done anything like this before, and found it challenging, rewarding, stretching, and exhausting! One of our prompts was: "I am from..." Think about it - and write your own! I AM FROM… I am from strong and sturdy stock. I am from grandparents who lived in the cold country up north—Minnesota and South Dakota—until finally everyone had had enough of snow and cold, and everyone on both sides of our family moved to California—all but us. I am from Oklahoma, our adopted state—but we fit right in: two OU graduates and parents who didn’t miss an OU home football game until well into their 80’s. I am from the cold and the snow, with snow tunnels to our house, snowsuits to keep warm and snowboots to keep our feet dry. But now… I am from Texas. I don’t miss the snow and cold and having to lift a snow shovel or even having to own one. I am from strong and sturdy stock – from grandparents married to each other way past their Golden wedding anniversaries, and parents who celebrated their 62nd anniversary. I am from the Black Hills of South Dakota with the great stone faces of Mt. Rushmore, an important part of my growing up days, all the way to the Red River crossing into Texas and the Rio Grande at the Texas-Mexico border. I am from the crisp cold wide open spaces of the two Dakotas through the wheatfields of Kansas and Oklahoma to the rich farmland of Central Missouri, to the oil fields of West Texas—and I call it all home.

Fall in Sammamish brings changes in our life

2008-11-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

While we can still miss fall in the Ozarks, we have had a most spectacular fall here in Sammamish. The view from our apartment was heavenly as we watched the bright reds and yellows cover the landscape. At the end of October, we moved out of our apartment and began living in our RV. We found ourselves right in the midst of the gorgeous colors in a campground just 8 miles from the church. Our first full day here it was dry and sunny - and we enjoyed a walk kicking the leaves and being part of the "leaf-fall" (as opposed to rainfall or snowfall) as an occasional brisk wind brought them to the ground. It was absolutely spectacular. We loved it..enjoyed the beauty of all the colors, the smell of fall in the air with its crispness, the crunch of the leaves under our feet. And we were absolutely amazed at the size of some of the platter-sized leaves that were falling around us. Now the rains have come...day after day..and finally we are enjoying a day of sunshine today--but we find that most of the leaves have fallen and the colors are diminishing. How fortunate we were to be right here in this place at exactly the right time to enjoy a fall that rates right up there equal to the Ozarks! We have new emails, so please make note of these, if you have not already done so: jerrymaxhilton@gmail.com marymhilton70@gmail.com

If you want to receive an email notifying you when new blogs are posted, just send Mary an email at the new address and let me know. Thanks to all of you who already let me know that you wanted to remain on the notification list.

We will spend the next month in the area - sometimes at a campground and sometimes parked on the church parking lot. We plan to spend Thanksgiving evening in Sequim with my cousins, Carl & Sue - what a blessing they have been to us during our year in Sammamish. I have eleven first cousins, and this is the first time I have ever been able to spend time with one of them, really getting to know them, and becoming friends--such a treat!

I hope your fall has been a blessing to you, and you have been able to enjoy some of God's glorious colors.

Midland "kids" all grown up!

2008-11-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Jerry says frequently that this kind of happening is one of the major blessings of being in ministry--the opportunity to watch children grow up into beautiful responsible adults--and to know that you were a part of that whole process. Living in the Seattle area now are Stephanie (Howard) and her husband, Cooper Askins (on the left and right in the lower picture). Having been married in Mexico recently by the Rev. Lana Russell (formerly of Midland), the newlyweds came for church, and brought with them their weekend guest, Emily (Booth) Berry (in red.) The pastor, Lana, is her mother. Emily lives in San Francisco now. All these "kids" (not an appropriate term to use for these adults, but I guess they'll always be kids to us! Shucks, Jerry still refers to our 61 year old friend Greg here in Sammamish as one of his kids!) call Midland FPC home. So it was truly a joy to share some time with them at worship, and our mission speaker that morning turned out to be someone Cooper works with in south Seattle. God is so good!

Its time for a change...

2008-10-25T18:36:00.000-06:00

Its fall...our most favorite time..the time when we most miss the Missouri Ozarks and Silver Dollar City..but our part of Washington State is alive with color right now and you just couldn't ask for any prettier scenery. We took a drive out through the hills yesterday, just wandering, without benefit of "Jill" (our GPS voice who has been our lifesaver out here) or even a state map..and all we could do was "oooh" and "aaah" around each corner, as the vibrant reds, purples, yellows and many shades of green brought the hillsides alive.

Last weekend we were in Sammamish at my cousin Carl's home...this beautiful buck is just one of many deer who come to graze and feast near their home - he happens to be the biggest one Carl had seen. And on their front porch was this delightful display of fall flowers--the pansys residing in a very old pair of camouflage slip-on tennis shoes that Jerry bought when we first retired and hit the road in the RV...not because of their color but because they were easy to take on and off as he went in and out of the RV...but it was time to say good-by to them, so on our last visit at Carl & Sue's, when we completed our last hike with Carla during her visit, he dumped them. Imagine our surprise to find them recycled by Sue and looking great on their front porch!

There are some changes in our lifestyle as well...our lease is up on our apartment next week, so we are in the process of moving into our motor home for our remaining time here in Sammamish. We are trying to remember what goes back into the coach, what was donated to us by our church family to furnish this apartment, and what goes back to Midland--the good news is that it will all be done in just a few more days..and I look forward to a few weeks of just relaxing time living in our motor home, and enjoying some of this spectacular scenery.

Our emails have also changed - please use these now:

marymhilton70@gmail.com OR jerrymaxhilton@gmail.com

(Its been an interesting sidelight, as Carla has been in touch with the person who carries the same email name as I do, without the 70. My PEO chapter mistakenly entered my email address and it went to her, and she was kind enough to reply and tell them they had the wrong person. Carla and "other" marymhilton are about to find out how they are related!)

Over the last few years, I have made it a habit to send out an email to many of you letting you know that there was a new entry on our blog. It probably goes to some of you who would really rather not be notified. So right now - if you want to be on that email notification list in the future, please send me an email at the new address listed above and let me know.

Thanks for reading our blog..for caring for us...for being a part of our life. If you came to visit us during our year in Sammamish, we are grateful for that visit. If you didn't come, then watch out--because we may find ourselves in your "neck of the woods" when we get back on the road!

Locks, Alsups and Long Live the Queen

2008-10-07T17:54:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, along with the non-stop rain, friends from Midland joined us for a quick view of Seattle (through windshield wipers!). We did have the best time, and just pretended it wasn't even damp outside. One of the sites we wanted to do before we finished here was go through the Ballard Locks..so we 4 boarded an Argosy boat and did that very thing...this pic shows the locks opening between the salt water of Puget Sound and the fresh water on the other side--quite a treat for all of us. In addition, the next day we returned and walked across the lock, hoping to see the salmon in the fish ladders--but it was the very end of the season, so we headed for Issa- quah (still in the rain), and were able to see hundreds of salmon from the bridge over Issaquah creek. (That means that it was one year ago that we came for a visit, had our first glimpse of this area where we would be living for the coming year, and saw the salmon spawning in Issaquah for the first time! My, how the year has flown by!) Thanks, Jim & Sandy, for being such good sports, and sharing our countryside with us in the rain!

Once again, the rain didn't deter us from sharing lunch...such things as fish 'n chips, ploughman's lunch, trifle and sticky pudding--oh yummy! (eat your heart out, Jo and Carla!) at the British Pantry in Redmond, with our Associate Pastor, Becki Barrett, and her delightful mum, Pat. (Pat's long-time home was Las Vegas NV and her church was FPCLV, now pastored by Jim Houston-Hencken, whose two children we love to grandparent.)

God's world really is so small - and we are SO glad to be a part of the family of God!

Mt. St. Helens

2008-09-18T14:43:00.000-06:00

We had a perfectly gorgeous few days last week to go camping and spend a day at Mt. St. Helens. It is an incredible spot...the various visitors centers, learning center and interpretive center are so well done, with extremely knowledgeable park rangers as well. (On this trip to the northwest, we have been highly impressed with the park rangers from the various branches of our national government who work at these sites.) We live in the tornado part of the country, I know...but I think I prefer that to living in the path of a volcano. The destruction that MSH brought on the countryside is unbelievable...rather than erupting out of the top of the volcano, as was originally expected, professionals watched as a great big bulge began to grow out of the side of MSH...and when it erupted, it literally blew out the side of the volcano, levelling trees like matchsticks for miles, many of which can still be seen lying on the ground, burying Spirit Lake and giving birth to a new Spirit Lake at a higher level, above the debris that the volcano deposited on the old lake bed. School children who live in the valley of MSH and Mt. Ranier do not have tornado drills, but rather volcano drills - involving seeing how fast you can run and vacate the area, so I was told by a retired school teacher in our church.

Thanks for staying with us on our journeys...we feel we have really had the opportunity to see this part of the country, and have enjoyed all of it. In our family, Jo & Scott have celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary, and Carla is back at work at her church following a most successful sabbatical journey all around the US. You can read about her journey on her blog at

http://cjtacky.blogspot.com/ We'll be talking to you later!!

Mother-Daughter road trip - fabulous!

2008-09-03T20:23:00.000-06:00

It was my privilege to ride with Carla on the next leg of her sabbatical journey - and we headed for the coast and took off on Highway 101, traversing all of the Oregon coast and into northern California. And we made memories--crossing the Megler-Astoria bridge, the last link in Highway 101 connecting Canada to Mexico; staying in Astoria, the oldest settlement west of the Rockies; seeing Lewis & Clark sites, like the "end of the trail" statue in Seaside, and Ft. Clatsop, where they spent their last winter.l On the coast of Oregon, we saw the remains of the Peter Iredale ship which crashed in 1906; and we drove a portion of the beach as a highway--what a thrill! We climbed to the top of the Yaquina Lighthouse and feasted on clam chowder at Mo's in Newport. In California, we hiked in to Stout Grove in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods, drove the Avenue of the Giants to view those magnificent redwoods up close and personal...driving through one, standing inside another. We picnicked on the beach, walked on the beach, found sand dollars, learned how to dig for clams, saw the water spout of a whale, stayed in the most magnificent B&B in Waldport OR with a view I'll never forget, and made new friends along the way. Thank you, Carla, for including me in your sabbatical journey.

Our final day we knew our drive would take us through Healdsburg CA on our way to Stockton CA for our last night...and we also knew that some of our good friends were vacationing there over the holiday weekend...so, thanks to cell phone communication, we caught up with each other and were able to meet for coffee. The Garretts (Monett MO) and the Griffins (Geneva IL) have been friends of ours for many years, and it was so good for our hearts to have a little bit of time with them.

Family & Friends - a great combination

2008-08-27T17:50:00.001-06:00

We have had such a marvelous time with Carla here for over ten days..and we have spent quality time together as well as sight-seeing. Our road trip was to visit my cousin on the Olympic Peninsula, with our first stop in the quaint town of Poulsbo, where Carla has a good friend (from back in Burke VA, Carla's first call after seminary). Robin had us for dinner and a marvelous walking tour of this town - and we want to go back another time. With the kind of rainy cool weather we have, flowers are just magnificent everywhere, and Poulsbo was no exception. Our time with Carl & Sue was exceptional - a visit to Port Townsend with all its cute stores and sites, hiking to Marymere Falls, and the most spectacular trip to Deer Park - where it seemed we might be falling off the edge of the earth. It was both eerie and gorgeous, and we were so high! We have also toured the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery, with lunch at the Red Hook Brewery nearby; visited our neighborhood pub a couple of times, worshipped at University Pres in Seattle with our friends, Peter & Diane Wilson, and special friends of Carla's who worship there, Jessica & Mike. Last Sunday, we were joined by Jane & Joe Skeen, who have been mentioned in previous blogs. It was such a fun reunion for Jane and Carla - when we all lived in Marshall MO, Jane used to baby-sit with our daughters...and tho we have kept in touch over the years, the girls probably had not seen each other for over 30 years! This week Jerry and I had a treat - we were able to join two dear friends from our Wichita KS congregation for lunch at Cutter's, down on the water near Pike Place Market. Sharon Moore and Sandi Simon had been hiking on the Olympic Peninsula for several days and had this free day in Seattle. We were so grateful to spend some time with them catching up. We are always grateful when friends keep track of us and let us know when they are in the area! Tonight we just finished having dinner with Brian, a friend and colleague of Carla's in the Kansas City area, who is here visiting his family. They enjoyed a Mariner's ballgame this afternoon, and now Carla and I are packing...because tomorrow I am leaving to accompany Carla on a drive down the coastal highway as far as San Francisco...and really looking forward to the beautiful sights along the coast.

Tears of joy!

2008-08-18T13:15:00.000-06:00

Carla - our very emotional daughter - could not contain the tears as she watched Michael Phelps bring home his 8th gold medal. What an exciting race to watch. And what joy for Michael, his mother, his teammates, and our country. Way to go, USA!

Bloys Cowboy Camp, August 2008

2008-08-17T15:26:00.000-06:00

This was our second year at Bloys with Jerry as the Presbyterian Bible Study leader, and it was another joyful week as folks from all over the country (tho primarily Texas) gathered to worship, pray, sing, eat and visit together. We began our week by flying in to El Paso to spend the night with our cousins and celebrate Wayne's birthday with a delicious Mexican dinner (Seattle does not quite have the hang of that cuisine!) Was it ever yummy! Bill & Wayne drove us to Bloys on Tuesday and stayed overnight with us, having their first Bloys experience after having heard about it for years. This is the Presbyterian Cabin provided for the Bible Study leader. During the week our house guests included Bill & Wayne on Tuesday, Barbara Bingham (Edmond OK) who arrived on Wednesday through Sunday, and our kids from San Antonio who came for the weekend. We shared the week with many friends - among them were Gene & Becky Needham of Midland (on the left) and Diane & Peter Wilson of Bellevue WA. We met the Wilsons last summer at Bloys just as we were preparing for the move to Sammamish - and we are so grateful for their friendship during this year in WA. We meet often for dinner and worship with them at University Church, Seattle, as often as we can.

On the cabin porch, Jo and Scott enjoy a visit with Midland friend Missy Grimes and Jerry. Missy and her family (husband and 3 children) have shared in the Uganda Mission for the last 3 years.

For more magnificent photos of the Bloys experience, please click on the following link:

http://albums.phanfare.com/4835464/2550855#imageID=42452712

These are Jo's photographic memories of Bloys and really tell a great story.